After a botched robbery and two killings, a couple retreats to a manor to find the owner still living there.  However, the wealthy owner is what he seems as he twists and battles to find a way out of being held hostage by the two.  Restraint was a pleasant surprise of a thriller from Australia.

Cast

Stephen Moyer stars as Andrew, the agoraphobic and wealthy owner of the estate. Ron, Dale’s boyfriend and killer of her boss, is played by Travis Fimmel.  Dale is played by the beautiful Teresa Palmer. Sargent Paul Widdens is played by Philip Holder, and Constable Blainey is played by Joanne Hunt. These are the main characters of this film.

Plot

Upon the killing of a gas station attendant and his girlfriend’s boss, the couple Dale and Ron retreat to Andrew’s estate to escape from the cops.  The couple soon discovers that Andrew is both agoraphobic and wealthy, and his fiancee Gabrielle who left him six months ago, leaving money and jewelry at the local bank.  Dale pretends to be Gabrielle to obtain the money and jewelry, but through subtle manipulation of Dale by both Andrew and Ron, the plan begins to unravel and fall apart fast.

Review

I was pleasantly surprised when I watched this movie.  Superficially, this movie resembled Trespass, but it exceeded that movie in terms of tension.  All the actors seemingly enjoyed playing their respective roles.  Although the plot was derivative, the great acting and the twist of the film brought this movie to a higher standard than Trespass. Setting the issue of eye-candy Teresa Palmer aside, this movie should be on everybody’s thriller list, at least in the top 15.

Verdict (Out of 10)

This movie definitely deserves an 8.8 out of 10.  This film is an enjoyable thriller not to only watch once but twice or more as well.

Related articles

• ‘Trespass’ Review (screenrant.com)
• Movie Review: Trespass (charlotte.news14.com)
• Teresa Palmer: Sundance with Scott Speedman! (justjared.buzznet.com)