Following a traumatic incident, a father and daughter try to bond and build something together when they get taken hostage by couple looking for loot.
Written by Banipal Ablakhad and by Benhur Ablakhad and directed by K. Asher Levin, Dig is a decent thriller with a story that is decently fun to watch. It’s re-writing any of the rules of the genre or of this type of film, but it’s enjoyable and goes by pretty quickly. The script has a good rhythm to it and the characters work well with each other; the direction is good. It’s one of those movies that is decent, good even, but doesn’t feel all that memorable.
Thankfully, the acting makes it a film that is keeping the attention. The four main characters are played by Thomas Jane and Harlow Jane as the father and daughter and Emile Hirsch and Liana Liberato as the couple taking them hostage and putting them to work. Jane and Hirsch play well against each other here, with Jane giving the better performance of the two by a small margin. Jane and Liberato each bring something interesting to their parts, playing somewhat opposites in an interesting way. While the performances work for the film and definitely help it grab and keep the audience, they are not quite perfect, but they work here.
In terms of looks, Dig looks quite good, even in darker scenes where less lighting often means losing part of the action. That is not the case here, the cinematography by Stephen St. Peter takes great care of having the right framing, but also the right lighting even in darker sequences, which of course is assisted by the lights department, but really the shots are well-composed. This helps the film make sense visually, but it also helps guide the viewer to the action and keep them involved by allowing them to see. This paired with the editing by Marc Fusco also helps move the story along while giving the characters space to evolve into.
Dig is perhaps not the most surprising thriller or even the most original film, but it has some really good elements here and there. The performances work, Thomas Jane is being his Thomas Jane self, making the most of his part, giving it life, and grabbing the viewer’s attention. The cinematography is good, the lighting is carefully done, and the film overall moves at a good pace. The story doesn’t require all that much in terms of development, but there is enough character development for the viewer to get involved and want to watch the whole thing.
Dig comes out on VOD on September 23rd, 2022