I have a great respect for what Director-Writer Oliver Pearn pulls off with “On the Line.” It’s a competently directed and well constructed thriller that takes its low budget and implements it to create genuine atmosphere. Sadly, I wish I liked it more than I did, mainly because I wasn’t invested in the core mystery that fuels his drama thriller. Fans of audio dramas will especially be fond of how the movie enhances the narrative by depending more on the delivery of its voice cast, encouraging us to envision what’s unfolding rather than showing.
In 1964 Alderney, twenty four year old Agnes works alone as a switchboard operator in the telephone operator exchange. Agnes uses her powers of deduction and local knowledge to help the police track an apparent abduction. But things take a turn for the worse when she realizes everything is not as it seems.
“On the Line” is a surefire mature film that feels like it tries its best to conjure up the likes of Alfred Hitchcock time and time again. The entirety of the film is set in one room and most of the time is focused in on one shot with main character Agnes sitting at a switchboard. The setting becomes something of a character that both motivates and hinders Agnes from committing to a well intentioned rescue of a kidnapped woman.
Star Victoria Lucie is the saving grace of “On the Line” as the film’s entire deliver lives and breathes by her. She’s stellar in her role as a switchboard operator who is facing her own life pressures involving an impending marriage, and the regrets she feels for her recently deceased friend. This mystery involving a woman who has seemingly been kidnapped acts as a means of her atoning for her own regrets, and this also gradually causes a bit of self reflection.
Sadly, “On the Line” works much more as a character piece than it does a thriller when all is said and done. I was so much more involved in how Agnes was using this pursuit over the switchboard as a means of compensating for her inherent personal demons. The mystery works fine enough, but sometimes it feels inherently muddled and the way it mirrors Agnes felt so on the nose at times. “On the Line” isn’t a bad film by any measure. Again, Pearn’s direction combined with the ace editing by Harry Baker allow the world to expand even with the film being confined to one setting.
I just wish I could recommend it as I left it feeling generally lukewarm and unsatisfied.
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