Rattlesnake

October 26, 20195 min

Every morning when I wake up, I am faced with lots of choices. I have to choose to get out of bed, what outfit to wear and when to leave my house, choices when we are making them seem important as it can determine the course of our day. These choices though are not important at all, unless you are trying to impress someone, well then maybe the outfit choice has some meaning. They really are not important as if say a demon like creature asked you for payment with a soul and you have to choose whose soul that is, you know, important choices like that.

Katrina (Carmen Ejogo) is a moving on from something or someone, with her daughter she is driving to stay with her mother. Along the way she takes a detour because of an accident and finds herself on a road with no phone service and no one else around. As you know that is the best time to get a flat and of course that happens. While trying to change her tire, her daughter goes off and plays and encounters a snake that bites her. With no phone and her car not drivable, Katrina starts to panic but notices a trailer, and heads there hoping for help. Inside she finds an old lady who says she can help, but Katrina should fix that tire to get her daughter to a hospital only mentioning some kind of payment when everything is done. When that payment is asked for in the form of a soul, a human soul, and if it is not paid by sunset, her daughters soul will be collected. Katrina must make a choice as she tries and figure out what to do and no matter what choice she makes, it might not be the right one.

Coming in at a cool eighty five minutes, Rattlesnake sets itself up right with the runtime. Too often films tell too much or overstay their welcome, when sometimes less is more. Writer/Director Zak Hilditch (1922) delivers on a story about what we will do for the ones we love. With a small cast and limited locations, the film really leans on Ejogo and she delivers in playing a mom who is faced with an impossible choice no mom wants to have to make. Sometimes simple is all you need, and with Rattlesnake Hilditch weaves a story that is full of suspense, as a clock ticks, leaving only tough choices and little room for a conscience. The whole film has a Twilight Zone-esque feel to it as we as viewers are given an easy choice, that is to sit back and enjoy and of course be glad that it’s not happening to us.

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