‘TransSiberian’ Is a Criminally Underrated Psychological Thriller [The Overlooked Motel]
Welcome to The Overlooked Motel, a place where under-seen and unappreciated films are given their moment in the spotlight. I hope you enjoy your stay here and find the accommodations to be suitable. Now, please take a seat and make yourself comfortable. I have some misbehaving guests to ‘correct.’
There are few things I enjoy more than discovering a diamond in the rough. That’s precisely why I started writing The Overlooked Motel a couple of years ago. Since the inception of this column, I have sung the praises of a number of criminally underrated features and I’m back today with what might just be the granddaddy of underrated genre films. I’m talking about TransSiberian, a chilling and unpredictable psychological thriller with an all-star cast. Oh, and did I mention the film is helmed by Brad Anderson, director of Session 9 and The Machinist?
TransSiberian is an effective picture that echoes the creative styles of Alfred Hitchcock and David Fincher. Yet, I hadn’t even heard of the flick prior to it popping up in my Prime Video recommendations a couple of weeks ago. And I’m not alone in my unfamiliarity. This flick truly flew under the radar upon release in 2008, pulling in less than $6 million at the global box office. It’s a shame the flick didn’t make more of a splash during its theatrical bow. But that is certainly not a comment on the quality of this overlooked effort.
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The film catches up with Roy (Woody Harrelson) and Abby (Kate Mara) following an overseas volunteer opportunity orchestrated by their church. The crux of the action unfolds as the couple treks from China to Moscow on the Trans-Siberian Railway. Along their journey, they meet another couple, Jessie (Emily Mortimer) and Carlos (Eduardo Noriega). The foursome become fast friends. But matters go awry when Roy is left behind at one of the stations. Carlos and Jessie make an effort to help Abby reconnect with her husband but deadly consequences ensue.
I kept the synopsis as vague as possible because this film is best enjoyed cold. I didn’t watch the trailer or read any reviews and I’m glad I played it that way. Without knowing where the film is going, the opening act may seem a bit slow. But take my word for it when I say the groundwork is being laid and the characters are being developed in the earlier moments. Everything eventually pays off in a big way and the events that transpire call back to what we know of the characters.
For instance, we know that Abby is sober and sometimes grows restless with the life she and Roy share. We know that Roy represents safety to Abby and that she probably chose to settle down with him because they are so different. He brings a stability that she never knew. But Abby clearly misses her wild ways. That setup justifies a series of questionable decisions that fuel the conflict at the core of the narrative.
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If we didn’t have that groundwork laid as it is, the way the narrative pivots wouldn’t feel earned and we wouldn’t care nearly as much about these characters. As it stands, I related to both Abby and Roy. In spite of being a mismatched pair, they feel like a real couple. That distinction makes the ordeal they endure all the more harrowing.
And TransSiberian is quite the harrowing ordeal indeed. Anderson nods to Hitchcock by crafting palpable tension that ratchets up around the start of the second act and continues to snowball until the epic finale. He pays tribute to the Master of Suspense by setting the film primarily on a train. The Lady Vanishes, The 39 Steps, Strangers on a Train, and North By Northwest all prominently feature a train. I suspect Hitchcock employed the use of trains for a number of reasons. One is that there is a built-in sense of claustrophobia that adds to the tension inherent to the narrative. Trains are full of small, confined spaces and offer no safe means of exit when they are moving. Both of those distinctions have the potential to add an extra layer of tension to an already intense setup.
Like Hitchcock before him, Anderson makes effective use of the confined setting and the lack of options for a safe escape. One of the most harrowing sequences occurs offboard but the consequences follow the cast as they reboard in a paranoia-inducing series of events.
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Additionally, the vast expanse of snow across the terrain traveled by the core characters brings a sterility to the proceedings that feels clinical and ominous. Snow is often rendered as representative of purity and innocence, but it functions as anything but here. The sterile aesthetic and gritty tone call to mind the work of David Fincher. I think fans of the Nightcrawler director will surely find plenty to enjoy about this suspenseful effort.
If you’re keen to check TransSiberian out, you can find the picture streaming on Tubi and Prime Video as of the publication of this post.
That’s all for this installment of The Overlooked Motel. If you’d like to chat more about under-seen and underrated films, feel free to hit me up with your thoughts on Twitter, Threads, or Instagram.
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