Alone (2020 thriller film)

Alone
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	John Hyams
Written by	Mattias Olsson
Produced by	Jordan Foley Jonathan Rosenthal Mike Macari Henrik JP Akesson
Starring	Jules Willcox Marc Menchaca Anthony Heald
Cinematography	Federico Verardi
Edited by	Scott Roon John Hyams
Music by	Nima Fakhrara
Production companies	Mill House Motion Pictures Paperclip Ltd. XYZ Films
Distributed by	Magnet Releasing
Release date	September 18, 2020 (2020-09-18)
Running time	98 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$651,445[1][2]

Alone is a 2020 American thriller film directed by John Hyams, from a screenplay by Mattias Olsson. The film stars Jules Willcox as a young woman who desperately tries to escape a homicidal stalker (Marc Menchaca) in the wilderness. It was released in the United States on September 18, 2020, by Magnet Releasing.

Plot[]

Jessica, a recent widow, is moving. She keeps encountering a mysterious man in several places: on the highway, at a gas station, a motel, then ultimately when she crashes her car, due to her tire being slashed. He drugs her, then takes her to his cabin where he locks her in the basement.

Jessica wakes up and he forces her to tell him what happened to her husband. She reveals that her husband killed himself using a gun. The next morning, she hears the man leaving and notices that the key is still in the keyhole on the other side. She slides her sweater underneath the door and uses a stray nail to push the key out. She frees herself and hides in an upstairs closet when the man comes back. She overhears him speaking to his wife and kids on the phone, lying about where he is and that he'll be back soon. Once he goes downstairs, she flees outside.

The man realizes what has happened and a chase ensues. She injures her foot and they face off at the river, where she jumps in to escape. Injured, wet, and cold, she meets a man named Robert who is out hunting. He helps her to his car and offers her food, water, and his wife's hiking boots as she is barefoot. As they are driving, they come to a stop where a tree has fallen, blocking the road. As they get out of the car, the man arrives, making up a story that Jessica is his sister. The man then kills Robert with his rifle.

The chase continues, the man now armed with Robert's hunting rifle. Jessica hides in a cave at night to get out of the rain, but the man spots her and shoots her in the shoulder. She hides in a small pond. The man tries to goad her into coming out by talking about her husband's suicide but gives up when she doesn't come out and leaves.

The next day, while the man is disposing of Robert's body, Jessica climbs into his car. While looking for the car keys, she finds the man's phone. She steals it and climbs in the trunk as the man returns to the vehicle. While he is driving, Jessica dials 911, trying to whisper to the operator what happened to her.

The man sees that his phone is missing and stops the car. He realises that she is in the trunk. Armed with a tire iron, Jessica leaps from the backseat and attacks, striking him in the head multiple times. The man starts driving and uses his hunting knife to attack Jessica, but she wrestles the knife away from him and stabs his arm. The man crashes the car, flipping it over.

Dazed, Jessica climbs out and spots a search and rescue helicopter looking for her. She runs after it into a clearing. She uses the man's phone to call his wife. She reveals that he is trying to kill her and has murdered Robert. The man follows Jessica into the clearing. Jessica puts the phone on speaker and taunts the man with it. In one final showdown, Jessica, armed with the tire iron, and the man, armed with the hunting knife, run at each other. After a struggle, Jessica stabs the man and watches him, smiling as he dies. As she lies exhausted, the helicopter descends from above.

Cast[]

• Jules Willcox as Jessica
• Marc Menchaca as The Man
• Anthony Heald as Robert

Reception[]

Box office and VOD[]

Alone was released in the United States on September 18, 2020 in theaters and on video-on-demand. It grossed $182,473 from 173 theaters in its opening weekend.^[3] It was also the most rented film on Google Play, fourth on FandangoNow, and ninth on Apple TV.^[4] In its second weekend the film ranked third at Google Play, fourth at FandangoNow, and sixth at Apple TV,^[5] then its third weekend finished second at Google Play, third at FandangoNow, eighth at AppleTV, and tenth at Spectrum.^[6]

Critical response[]

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 90% based on 62 reviews, with an average rating of 6.9/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Alone's minimalistic approach makes this heightened thriller a gripping and suspenseful experience."^[7] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 70 out of 100 based on nine critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[8]

References[]

External Links[]

• Alone at IMDb