By Terry Sherwood
In musician biographies and histories of those Halcyon Punk days of 1973 to 1979, many a soon-to-be Joe Strummer or John Mellor made the term ‘squatting’ into something romantic. Many people living in abandoned buildings found ingenious ways to steal utilities while they lived their lives. Flash to today and you have the same thing happening as another exercise in entitlement is ‘Phrogging’ which is when a person lives in a house undetected by the owners. This idea that all is not what it seems is the theme of Joy Wilkenson’s dark, self-discovery feature 7 Keys.
Lena (Emma McDonald) and Daniel (Billy Postlethwaite) find themselves in an upscale eatery being stood up by dating app dates. In a lovely plausible connecting moment, they decide to chat and join each other at dinner. Tantalizing dialogue about showing each other their ‘arses’ that turn out to be the pictures of people they were supposed to meet they get to know each other playfully. The encounter turns physical even after a rebuff by Daniel and a pursuit by Lena to his residence which is not far.
Daniel still holds onto the keys to every place he’s ever lived in London. Lena, who is a thrill seeker, convinces him to visit these locations and enjoy themselves. The two embark on this odyssey of unlocking doors that also trigger both of their memories while indulging in food and sex. Each place represents a part of Daniel’s past as both learn about themselves, and their relationship deepens to the point that they imagine living in each home as a couple. Lustful moments include Lena changing into the dress of one of Daniel’s ex’s and asking to be called by her name as they do their small version of 9 1/2 weeks.
Romantic danger elements in line with David Lynch’s Road movie Wild at Heart, the couple falls into a whirlwind romance along with a deadly risk follows them. Unlocking the danger of the free repressed Daniel and the realization on Lena’s part that she has responsibility, yet her life is in tatters. The thrill of being caught, the covering up of the past and the obsession with the future turn the film dark and violent in an exercise of all oppressive affection.
7 Keys casting of Lena and Daniel works well as essentially a two-hander in which both actors hold the screen with their presence. Director Joy Wilkerson in her first feature along with Cinematographer Mary Farebrother and editor Roberta Bononi concentrate at times on closeups for intimacy going into their pores with frame changes that highlight the actor’s eyes that tell the story. The picture also makes good use of background foreground night action in London and various interiors including claustrophobic bath.
Social commentary on dating app people and how emotionally disposable it can be self-evident. The accidental or intentional apathy toward violence is shown when Danel is attacked by a black man with a hammer on an open street in broad daylight whom he had previously beaten up. Daniel coaxes the man to put him to put the weapon down as there are witnesses which turn out the be a woman walking with a s toller. The battle continues brutally with the woman with the stroller due to headphones on her head. The unsettling image of a non-white man wielding a hammer or another against a Caucasian person is all too prevalent. Even at the film’s conclusion, you see a body on the crown and a jogger running by it taking no notice.
With the use of the number seven and unlocking the past, you have the myth of the Abraham Merritt story Seven Footprints to Satan which was made into a silent film.. In the book James Kirkham, an adventurer/explorer is kidnapped off the streets of downtown Manhattan by Satan, a crime lord/supervillain/evil genius. Kirkham is forced to play a game in Satan’s lair, during which he is made to tread on seven glowing footprints, four of which are “fortunate” and three “unfortunate.” like the places and lives Lena and Daniel enter. Depending on the steps he lands on, he will either be killed, serve Satan for a year, or be given a fortune, He commits various fantastic crimes while in his service. and is housed in Satan’s chateau with dozens of others and falls in love with a fellow prisoner, Eve.
7 KEYS is more a thriller than a horror film that delves into a romance turned dark and paints a not-so-savoury picture of non-emotional urban life that as one song in the soundtrack implores that I need a connection. The illusion is easier than the reality of emotions becomes too much for some. A love that stifles the other, is so parasitical that has the potential to destroy.
7 Keys screens as part of Frightfest 2024.
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