Despite all the hardships the COVID-19 pandemic has created in the past two years, the pandemic has allowed studios and their directors to put their thinking caps on for unique ways to direct and release their films.
Many entries have been in the “pandemic era” style films where a minimalist cast and crew are on board. While some have missed the mark, there are a few where I genuinely appreciate their inventive filmmaking technique. The latter can be added to Phillip Noyce’s new film, Lakewood. A film that is undoubtedly going to divide audiences but highlights the greatness of not only Naomi Watts’s acting chops but her athletic ability as well, because boy, does she run a lot in this film.
Lakewood, which premiered at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, follows Amy Carr (Watts), a wife whose husband has passed away and, along with her son, is having a difficult time with the grieving process. Then, during a morning run in the woods, things take a turn for the worse as Amy learns of a school shooting at her son’s school. She begins using her phone as her sole means of connection in trying to track down an answer about her son’s safety.
As mentioned before, the pandemic opened up different ways to tell stories on screen, which Lakewood may be on the list as one of the best. The idea to let Watts, one of the most underrated actresses of this generation, to just run for 83 minutes on her iPhone is downright genius as she commands the film with this performance.
Chris Sparling’s screenplay allows a level of tension to be formed that will keep you fully engaged. Sparling is no stranger to creating a tense situation in films as he is the screenwriter of Buried, ATM, and Greenland most recently.
In a similar fashion to another TIFF selection, The Guilty, the film involves the audience well even though our eyes are mainly watching Watts run throughout the whole film. Still, her interaction with many different folks, including 911 dispatchers, detectives, and family friends, allows the viewer to paint a picture of what’s going on at the other end of that phone line. Also, similar to The Guilty, Watts is in complete control. Her performance is multi-layered with emotion, fear, and ferocity that despite its flaws, the film keeps you engaged thanks to her performance.
Where the film will lose steam is with its nonsensical unrealistic choices towards the end. While I won’t dive into spoiler territory, any content revolving around school shootings is a serious one, so for the film to take a turn into B-movie cheesy tropes took away much of the practical execution early on.
Lakewood will not move the needle, but if you’re willing to bypass the campiness of the third act, you will be in line for a rollercoaster ride of emotions that will jolt you with tension and give you one of the unsung performances of the year.
