Eddie (Bill Skarsgard) is a small-time-crook at the end of his rope. In an act of desperation, he attempts to boost a luxury SUV. Too bad it’s a set-up by a wealthy man William (Anthony Hopkins), leading to a game of survival. How will Eddie get out and return to his loving daughter?
Locked, directed by David Yarovesky (Brighburn, Nightbooks) features an interesting premise. Written by Martin Alen Ross, based on 4×4, an Argentine film from 2019, the idea of a man locked in a car, trapped in a game of life or death against a usually unseen rich man on the phone controlling the vehicle is more than enough to drive a film. I’m game for any movie featuring a person, or a small group, stuck in a controlled situation and having to solve their way out: Buried, Cube, the surprisingly good Escape Room duology, the similarly named Locke, also featuring someone in a car. While Locked won’t join the high end of the pantheon, it’s a nice ride (heh) and uses the idea well.
Bill Skarsgard leads as Eddie, our hapless hero. He’s a desperate man, and although a thief at times, Locked takes the time to make him a likable man, one we have sympathy for due to his love for his daughter, and he’s run out of luck in legal matters. In hunting for a few hundred dollars to pay for a car repair and pick up his daughter from school, he spots a perfect, clean, fancy luxury SUV sitting square in the middle of a lot. Before Admiral Ackbar can say “It’s a trap!” he’s inside. It doesn’t take long before the doors are locked and he’s at the whim of a man in control of the car on the other side of a phone call.
Thus setting up a personal escape room. While dealing with the taunts and tortures (both physical in shocks from the seats and mental of endless yodeling), the audience finds thrill in seeing the bits of figuring out the details of how to get out, get the upper hand on his captor, and finding the set-ups and pay-offs. There is tension and minor huzzahs as Eddie has his tiny victories. It mostly works on this front, though some choices dissipate the feeling, spreading the trap over several days leads one to wonder about the downtime, instead of a rising push; and there is only so much one can do with the car, as tricked out as it may be. Yarovesky often holds claustrophobia and gets tight in the car, but then will too-often opt for a moment taking it away (I felt it in Brightburn as well, it would get going then pfft).
Fortunately, the movie does open up to an expanded world, while still keeping it small enough it’s still about Eddie and William and not bringing in strange out-of-nowhere characters and points in the third act; athough there are a few “really?” moments (including one with an infuriatingly oblivious girl). It keeps from repetition and explores the nature of the men. The film clearly states, this is a story about the haves and have-nots, both directly in dialogue and metaphor (the rich set a trap and get mad at those who spring it). Thus keeping Eddie sympathetic; to how much of his and so many other people’s situations are due to bigger umbrellas of the real world.
Skarsgard performs admirably since so much of this is on him. He can hold his own, acting against a voice; or as he frets and fights on his own in the vehicle. Those expressive eyes help (as they did in a voiceless performance in Boy Kills World). Unfortunately, Hopkins, playing the sort of role Bruce Willis would be playing if this was made a few years ago (as he did in The Virtuoso), mostly, ahem, phones it in. Whether it be on the phone, or in person (and always sitting, a nice job if you can get it), most takes feel like rehearsals. This is especially disappointing as many of his lines feel like they were written for his acerbic wit, but he performs them flatly.
Locked delivers enough thrills to keep the viewer entertained. But some choices in front of and behind the camera lower the drive. Locked is produced by Sam Raimi, too bad his trademark manic energy isn’t infused into the film.