‘Compulsion’ (2024)

Young Evie (Anna-Maria Sieklucka) arrives in Malta to spend time at her stepfather’s villa. Unbeknownst to her, next door neighbours Diana (Charlotte Kirk) and Reese (Zach McGowan) set their sights on her as an easy mark, looking to take advantage of the seemingly naïve girl and the safe in her stepfathers home. Sinister conspiracies and mislaid loyalties result in a twisted downward spiral for everyone involved.

Wanting to really earn the title of erotic thriller, the film opens on a latex-clad female figure sneaking into a wealthy manor, targeting an unnamed man about to shower. The lace-masked figure slashes and hacks away until the person is reduced to nothing, expiring on the shower room floor.

Cutting to Evie in a taxi on her way to her stepfather’s villa, the young woman is chatted up by the cab driver, with the woman rebuffing him at every turn. Soon, Evie arrives and meets Diana, her very free-spirited, wild, and promiscuous next-door neighbour. Inquisitive, Diana tries to learn as much as possible about Evie. Returning home later, Diana conveys her findings to her washed up and indebted boyfriend Reese, forming a plan on how to get to the stash in Evie’s stepfather’s house for a big payday.

What ensues is a progressively unhinged course of events where Diana learns of Evie’s recent lover’s spat with her girlfriend, leading Diana to pursue Evie. Subsequently, the taxi driver who took Evie to her villa is slain by the masked figure much in the same fashion as the man from the opening sequence.

Much to Reese’s dismay Diana takes it too far and an argument breaks out. With Evie noticing Diana is in danger, the two women overpower Reese after he attacks Diana, killing him. After disposing of the evidence the two consummate their relationship.

Receiving a message with footage of Diana and Evie disposing of Reese’s remains, the two are being blackmailed and pursue the lead. Resulting in a further attack by the masked figure, the two women flee a masquerade ball and raise the attention of local detectives investigating the unprecedented slew of murders.

Evie is later questioned by the police and taken into custody under suspicion of having committed the murders. Meanwhile Diana calls her stepfather to come to Malta and help pay her bail, luring him in to potentially unlock the safe. Snooping around, Diana goes through Evie’s luggage and finds the severed head of her girlfriend. Realising that Evie is the masked killer, Diana panics, but awaits Evie’s return.

The two face off with Evie realising Diana has figured it out, breaking out into a brawl. Knocking Diana out, Evie’s mother and stepfather arrive, with Evie confronting the two, noting that she turned out the way she did because her stepfather had raped her as a child. Killing the two, Evie is then subdued by Diana, with the latter opening the safe and literally sailing off into the sunset.

Opening with an action POV of the serial killer with the opening credits scrolling past the excitement, the film feels like its trying to suggest that it’ll keep it at 11 the whole time. Delivering an interesting enough opening salvo, one is lead to believe that there is nowhere for the film to go but up.

Disappointingly, the movie takes a hard left turn and instead of delivering an erotic thriller that it appeared to want to aspire to, the movie slows to a screeching halt and provides exposition for far too long with actors that seem disinterested. Stilted dialogue and unnatural interactions detract from what could have been a straightforward thriller, instead producing an unevenly paced and frankly boring feature.

Gauche and gratuitous, Diana’s pursuit of Evie feels sleazy and cheap. With Kirk and Sieklucka engaging in uncomfortable exchanges and eventually basically soft-core porn, the two manage to pull viewers closer to the screen, but probably for all the wrong reasons. Lacking in subtle seduction and a more tasteful execution, ‘Compulsion’ delivers light lesbian erotica without really taking advantage of all that it could be.

In terms of the action, the film serves as thriller in name only. With easily anticipated exploits and barely any plot to hold it all together, the feature fails to entice or exhilarate as its story is predictable to the point of being annoying.

Far too long for what it should have been, ‘Compulsion’ has a relatively simple story that could work, if it were well executed. The creative forces of Neil Marshall and Charlotte Kirk as writers, along with Marshall directing, it’s a disappointment to see the pair fail to develop something noteworthy. With a slew of cult films behind his name, Marshall has developed another feature not worth recommending, as ‘Compulsion’ only deserves to be to be mentioned when talking about narrative and structural disasters.

Without an ounce of mystery tied to the film, ‘Compulsion’ is tedious in its delivery as the viewer can easily stay two steps ahead of the plot at any time and can guess who the masked figure is with 100% certainty almost instantly. Understanding that some features are not shy about who the big bad is, knowing that ‘Compulsion’ genuinely tries to keep it a secret is an embarrassment to the creative forces behind the venture.

A disaster narratively, stylistically and in every other conceivable way, ‘Compulsion’ is not worth anyone’s time, as it’s action thriller classification is undeserved. The movie feels like it was made for another time, belonging at the height of the erotic thriller wave some 40 years ago, and even then it’d be a far cry from the peak of the sub-genre.

Score: 0/4