NFF Masquerade: TO FREDDY Review – What’s In The Box?
Starring Nicholai Narvesen Lied, Viljar Boe, Simen Stensheim Jorgensen, Nicholas Verdi, and Peter Emong
Written by Viljar Boe
Directed by Viljar Boe
Norweigian indie thriller To Freddy is the thrilling tale of a man who comes into possession of a random piece of Tupperware while on a walk with his best friend. His name is on it and inside reside a series of card-filled envelopes with specifics dates and times on them. The first one tells him that he must go on the weekend camping trip with friends that has already been planned. It also tells him that at a specific point in time on this excursion, one of his friends will kill him.
Cue The Twilight Zone theme.
I jest, although this is very much the kind of mind-bending story that one would find playing out in that classic series or even on a more modern counterpart like Black Mirror. This is very much a tale of human paranoia and desperation, the exact kind of story that those shows revel in. The film never really leans hard into any genres outside of the thriller arena, but those questions do linger at the back of your mind throughout.
Has this box been gifted to Freddy by some unseen, all-knowing force? Is it a mere prank that one or all of his pals are playing on him? Perhaps it is instead a social experiment of some kind? Is his supposedly impending doom predestined or can he prevent it? Will it simply become a self-fulfilling prophecy?
A movie like this is, by its very definition, a character piece. It lives and dies on its casting. Lucky for us, To Freddy boasts two great leads. Our titular Freddy (Nicholai Narvesen Lied) and his best friend Viljar (Viljar Boe) have great chemistry with one another and the film wisely leans on that. We spend less time with the other cast members, but Lied and Boe are good enough together that it doesn’t really matter.
This is Viljar Boe’s first feature as a writer/director and it is an impressive kickoff. It can’t have been made for much money, but it never looks cheap or amateurish. The lush location shooting on further aids the film, with its cold and lonely-looking forest operating as a thematic physical manifestation of the never-ending sea of doubt and paranoia wreaking havoc in Freddy’s mind. I am excited to see what Boe does with his next film, given that he did so much with so little here.
Are you looking forward to To Freddy? Have you already seen it and agree or disagree with this assessment? By all means, let us know in the comments below or on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram! You can also hit me up directly on Twitter @DanielWBaldwin.
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TO FREDDY
Summary
To Freddy is an indie thriller that offers up two really good lead performances, an intriguing concept, and plenty of tension throughout. It won’t knock your socks off, but if you are looking for lo-fi filmmaking with a high concept idea behind it, then it should hit the spot.
