By David Dent
Four girls, Rhiannon (Catrin Jones), Erin (Emma Stacey), Sam (Bethany Williams-Potter) and Mia (Ellen Jane-Thomas), who have escaped a dreary Welsh town, revisit their home of Milford, united by a secret: sometime before, for a laugh, they stole a box of money from the office of a local steel mill, busy making money and exploiting the local community, and hid it in the grounds. The jape had tragic implications for another employee.
Now the girls are back, and after a few drinks in the local, thoughts return to the box. Rhiannon, who purloined the cash and witnessed a fatal accident as a result, now suffers from scopophobia; a morbid fear of people staring at her, of which the others are unaware. Rhiannon and the others break back into the mill, locate the money, but then become trapped in the building. Worse still, they’re being watched; and stalked.
The film’s tension (and drama) is almost entirely generated by the four girls gradually turning against each other. Old rivalries surface and flashbacks from their respective pasts give an understanding of their motivations. There is good and bad among all of them and it’s fun watching allegiances and oppositions develop and change. By the end of the film, the four girls are unrecognisable from their innocence at its beginning.
The movie remains TV drama-like (most of the budget was probably used up in renting the factory facility which is their playground) through its ups and downs, and while it becomes increasingly mean-spirited director Aled Owen does find room for a redemptive, even slightly feelgood ending.
Bloody Flicks 