Review by Eric Hillis
Directed by: Steven J. Mihaljevich
Starring: Mani Shanks, Jason Robert Lester, John Jarratt
Writer/director Steven J. Mihaljevich's Shed is a child-versus-psycho thriller in the tradition of movies like 1989's 3615 Code Santa Claus (believed by some to be the inspiration behind Home Alone) and 2020's Becky. But Shed is a product of Australia, and anyone familiar with that nation's distinctive brand of "Ozploitation" knows to expect a grittier take on this premise than its more glossy predecessors.
From the opening scene Mihaljevich lets us know we're in unsafe hands. A bearded stranger (Jason Robert Lester) arrives at a remote home and proceeds to massacre a young boy and his parents before driving off into the night. What the killer doesn't know is that 10-year-old Mia (Mani Shanks) had earlier been locked in an adjoining shed by her mischievous brother. Oblivious to the horror that befell her family, Mia seeks a way out of the shed but accepts that she's trapped. Over several days we watch as she wracks her young brain for ways to survive, living solely on water collected during rain fall.
Of course, Mia doesn't know about the bearded stranger, so when he makes brief returns she unwittingly tries to get his attention. Giving the audience more information than the protagonist is the basis of creating suspense, but it's a basic rule many modern filmmakers seem to have forgotten. Mihaljevich uses this simple technique to generate much nail-biting suspense every time we hear the rumble of the stranger's pick-up truck outside the shed. As Mia screams for help we scream at Mia to shut the hell up.
Where similar movies have given us young protagonists who are essentially child geniuses when it comes to thwarting their adult foes, Shed keeps things real in this regard. Mia is simply a regular 10-year-old girl who manages to figure out a few ways to survive but is ultimately out of her depth. What adds to the horror is that we know if she remains in the shed she's done for, so at some point her best hope will be for the stranger to release her to an uncertain fate.
In a nod to Castaway, Mia makes a "friend" by drawing a face on a jam jar lid and attaching it to a stick, but commendably Mihaljevich doesn't use this as a cheap way to accommodate expository dialogue. With Mia speechless for the bulk of the movie, young Shanks is tasked with a largely non-verbal performance, and she rises to the challenge. Where so many child actors give the impression of an adult acting in a child's body, we're never in any doubt that we're watching a 10-year-old here. There's an unrefined innocence to Shanks' performance that adds to Mia's vulnerability.
For a while you might initially wonder if the stranger is actually going to return, as we spend so long watching Mia adapt to her prison. But this is the most interesting stretch of the movie, a survival thriller made unique by featuring a child who has never had to fend for herself. When the stranger does eventually return to the narrative, the film becomes less interesting and more conventional, though the final act is enlivened by a welcome cameo by Wolf Creek's John Jarratt.
