Trunk (2023) - Thriller Film Review

The sub-genre of thrillers, the film where someone is trapped in a singular location (such as [Cargo] and Phone Booth), can be tricky to get right. Too much going on and events begin to feel unbelievable, but too little going on and you open up the viewer to boredom. As the title of this German thriller might hint at, Trunk (written, edited and directed by Marc Schießer), takes place nearly entirely within the confines of a car boot. Surprisingly, this ninety five minute movie doesn't let up the pace from start to finish.

Malina (Sina Martens) wakes up one rainy night to find herself laying in the boot of a car, with no recollection of how she got there. Seeing an approaching stranger (Poal Cairo), she manages to grab her phone from outside the car before having to feign unconsciousness as the man approaches and shuts her in. She had been hitchhiking across Germany with her boyfriend, Enno (Artjom Gilz) on the way to a backtracking trip to South America. From phone footage she had taken she is able to see the moment of her abduction. Luckily, she manages to call the police, getting through to Elisa (Luise Helm), but being trapped in the boot she isn't able to provide many details on where she may be. In addition to her kidnapping, she has also soon discovers she has had her kidney amateurishly removed and that she is in real danger of bleeding out. 

It often impresses me how much films set in the one location are able to really sell the goal they are aiming for. You would think a woman trapped in a boot would make for something really dull, but the dynamic editing frequently creates some delightful and atmospheric scenes. Of course, literally having the actress stuck in a boot would make for a claustrophobic film, here, the camera often sweeps upwards in an artistic way, to show Malina laying in the boot surrounded by darkness. At times there are some really impressive looking moments which I assume were a mix of CG and real footage. Having the camera upside down sweeping down the road behind the car, before swinging up and into the hole in the boot where you can see Malina's desperate face peering out was wonderful to look at. There are moments where she is on the phone when the camera swoops into the car's interior before coming back out again. These add life and urgency to the scenes. Having the whole film take place while it's pouring rain late at night helped unify the feel of the movie, with water often playing a key role.

There is a small cast, outside of a couple of tiny outside character roles, you have just six actors bringing the story to life, three of those only here as voices on the other end of the phone. Rather than flashbacks to show Malina and Enno, you instead see these via videos that the protagonist is watching back on her phone. Occasionally you get actual flashbacks, but shown as reflected images in the metal on the inside of the boot, or reflecting off a broken wing mirror. This artistic licence is always used sparingly and helps show to the viewer what the character is thinking of at that time. I thought Cairo made for an interesting antagonist. Despite driving the car the whole film, Malina only has a handful of small interactions with him, though is able to piece together clues based on phone calls he makes (in English). Martens is superb in her strange role, she really gives a believable performance in what must have been a hard place to act!

I thought the special effects looked great, especially the open wound where Malina has had her kidney removed. The blood is suitably wet looking and leads to some wince inducing moments, such as when she is forced to stitch her wound back up using to-hand items.

I feared that Trunk might become a little dull, or that events might get to be too ridiculous. While there are some questions raised, such as how the driver somehow doesn't hear the constantly talking and shouting Malina despite her being so close to him, overall I was impressed, the editing and directing choices breathed life into scenes that could have felt tepid, and as a protagonist, Malina became a character I found myself caring for on the whole. Trunk debuted worldwide on January 26th on Prime Video.

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