If you thought your day couldn’t get any worse, then spare a thought for homeless, out-of-work Tom. He can’t even manage to sleep on a park bench without the cops hassling him. So off he goes in search of the local mission. But as he crosses a road in the dead of night, a car hits him head on, forcing his body through the windscreen.
The driver – still high on alcohol and drugs after nightclubbing – is care-worker Brandi, who races home in blind panic with Tom’s body bleeding beside her. Fearing she will not only loose the promise of a promotion, but her job, Brandi decides to leave the unconscious body locked in her garage while she decides what to do.
The next morning Tom’s cries for help are meet on deaf ears as Brandi heads off to work after knocking him out once more. When he comes to and realises he is now being held captive, Tom sets about trying to release himself from his awful predicament. What follows is truly excruciating and painful to watch, and your heart will bleed (no pun intended) as Tom’s attempts to escape from the increasingly hysterical Brandi are blocked at every turn.
This is a very different kind of movie you’d expect from director Stuart Gordon – well-known by genre fans for his comic horrors Re-Animator and From Beyond. It’s a viscerally intense psychological thriller, very much in the Misery vein. Stephen Rea (yes he from The Crying Game) should be praised for playing the physically demanding role of Tom, while Mena Suvari is definitely no American Beauty as she tackles the self-centered Brandi whose decision not to help Tom sends her deeper and deeper over the edge.
Stuck is certainly not easy on the eye or the senses but it is, never the less, a chilling suspense that will leave you breathless.
Released on DVD and BluRay 11 May 2009
