Shattered Reflections: Locked In Film Review

What happens when you do something wrong and try to cover it? A chain of similar events of increasing complexity tends to follow unless the right thing is done to prevent that. The 2023 psychological thriller film Locked In tells a story that reflects on rivalry, infidelity, betrayal, and murder.

Our actions and words towards people have a way of reverberating in their minds. And the effect thereon can influence their perceptions and decisions towards us. It takes some level of introspection to break the cycle of negative consequences that may follow from acting wrongly.

Emotions are powerful, and being consumed by them can be dangerous. The thoughts we harbour have a way of coming to life if they persist. "As a man thinketh, so he is," a phrase that buttresses how our thought processes eventually define us and drive us to act accordingly.

Katherine wakes from a coma but is unable to communicate. She is helped by a nurse who tries to uncover the cause of her predicament and figures from Katherine's blinking that she was involved in a murder. Only Lina, her daughter-in-law, who appears to be in a loveless marriage, seems to have the answers.

Locked In portrays the cause and effect of actions and the collosal effect of neglecting repercussions that may follow the negative ones, reflecting on being overly locked in deep in our emotions and consumed by them.

The trailer for this film was sufficient to get my attention. The idea of a mysterious murder attempt and the concept of the victim being unable to tell her story due to the aftereffects of the murder attempt piqued my interest.

I really wanted to know just how the murder was staged, the person behind it, and more importantly to me, the story that would unfold at the unveiling of it all.

The first few minutes into the film held up that energy from the trailer, but it wasn't long after that that my enthusiasm began to wane. What I had expected was not what I was watching. At that point, I began to write the film off. I think that most people may become uninterested in this valley.

With a little bit of faith, I hoped that the narrative would change, and so I continued. Eventually, things picked up again after a long while into the film when there was a different murder, and I sat up to savour the rest of the drama.

Evaluating the entire story's depth, I would say that there wasn't that much to it other than the tension I felt between the characters of the film. Their dialogues weren't anything near comical for the most part, which I didn't quite enjoy. The extremes of emotions, however, were quite endearing to enjoy.

When the "big reaval" happened, it wasn't at all surprising, as obvious hints played out quickly enough. I found entertainment in the highlight of the film anyway, when all hell broke loose.

There were only five characters in this film. And there were not many settings used. I had never seen the actors in any film before, but that didn't matter at all as I considered their performances to be alright and nothing particularly special about them.

Locked In gets intriguing at some points, compensating for the slow pace for most of the beginning, but it could have been much more fulfilling with a more dramatic, yet thoughtful storyline and entertaining dialogues. It managed to suffice for an okay film, with some thrills delivered.

I would only tell people about this film with side notes that it may not feel that great, especially at the beginning, but it is an overall enjoyable film with what it has to offer, and if one doesn't think much about its flaws.

I'll give this film a rating of 6/10.