Review by Eric Hillis
Directed by: Charlie Robb, Douglas Tawn
Starring: Charlie Robb, Kat Johns-Burke, Jessica Summer, Douglas Tawn
Several recent thrillers have used that most loathed modern antagonist, the influencer, as a cheap way to create an unlikeable character. For most of us, the term "influencer" conjures up nightmare images of narcissistic sociopaths behaving like assholes in public, trying to make the rest of us unwitting supporting players in their attention-seeking lives. Loner bucks this trend by going out of its way to make us empathise with a wannabe influencer, as it explores how a desire to find an online audience can often be driven by real world loneliness.
Angus (Charlie Robb, who wrote the script and co-directed with Douglas Tawn) is one such figure. About to turn 30 and having come out of a relationship with his girlfriend Katie, Angus has hit a low point and believes the answer to his troubles is to fashion himself into a YouTube personality. After winning a suspicious competition, Angus is directed to the remote woods of Northumbria for a weekend stay in a secluded cabin. Deciding this scenario will be perfect for his first ever vlog, Angus loads up with camera equipment to capture every moment of his stay. So much for a digital detox!
Loner plays out its narrative through unedited footage of Angus's ill-fated stay in the woods. This leads to many humorous looks behind the influencer curtain as we see Angus set up a camera to capture himself walking into the distance, only for him to have to trudge all the way back to retrieve said camera. When he spears a fish in a nearby stream, we've already watched him stick a store-bought fish onto the end of his spear. This unedited glimpse into Angus's process also makes us question everything he tells his audience, and us, in his various sad sack monologues. We suspect he's not only lying to his potential viewers, but to himself. Angus is clearly using self-deprecating humour as a defence mechanism, as though he believes that if he mocks himself it might prevent others from doing so.
But Angus is a likeable shlub, and we increasingly feel sorry for him as he opens up about his troubles and his loneliness. Robb's performance is quite brilliant. He's playing two roles here: one of the chipper persona Angus tries to present as a budding YouTuber, and the real Angus, a deeply sad and lonely young man.
After getting us on Angus's side, Robb and Tawn start to slowly pull the rug out from under us once the horror elements are introduced. Things begin to go bump in the night, and it's clear someone or something is in the vicinity of Angus's cabin. There's an incident that Angus reacts to in a way that will challenge our sympathy for him, and from that point on we're forced to question if he ever deserved our pity in the first place.
The first half succeeds as a low budget horror comedy, thanks to Robb's comic performance, which recalls early Ricky Gervais. But it's in the film's second half that things get more interesting, albeit also more challenging for the viewer. Loner evolves into a dark and increasingly disturbing examination of what has become known as the "male loneliness epidemic," highlighting how the loneliness of many young men is self-inflicted, a product of an entitled and narcissistic world-view that makes them unfuckable at best and unfriendable at worst. Angus morphs from loveable lug to sinister creep in frighteningly convincing fashion. What's in the woods ultimately becomes irrelevant, as Angus, like so many young men, is his own worst enemy.
Loner premiered at the Raindance Film Festival on June 21st.
