WFG RATING: B

Blues Eyes Films presents a Move Mountains Production. Directed by Roland Manookian. Produced by Shane McCormick, Tom Gordon, and Josh Witcher. Written by Roland Manookian and Josh Witcher; story by Shane McCormick. Cinematography by Carlos Garcia Buenaventura. Editing by Gabriel Foster Prior and Sergio Recchia. 

Stars Gina Jones, Shane McCormick, Geoff Bell, Eddie Webber, Calum MacNab, Simon Manyonda, Lottie Lewis, and Craig Fairbrass. 

A woman finds herself having to come to terms with an abusive relationship in this slow burn of a thriller from actor and filmmaker Roland Manookian. 

Raye is a young woman who had witnessed her mother’s abuse at the hands of her father. This in turn caused her mother to end her own life when she was a child. When she meets Frank, she thinks she has it made and has found safety. She soon learns that Frank is far from the perfect gentleman as he begins to abuse her, triggering her past emotions to new heights. 

As Raye finds herself constantly enduring the abuse held by Frank, she becomes more shocked to discover she is pregnant. Realizing the long-term effects the abuse can cause, Gina decides enough is enough. She becomes aware and with the help of her friends as well as Frank’s remaining family, who do not approve of his actions as they know about Frank’s abusive childhood, Gina finds herself ready to let go. However, is Frank willing to let go? 

This film from actor and filmmaker Roland Manookian starts out very slow and adds a bit of a side story involving a different sort of abuse of sorts. However, the focus is the story of a young woman who has seen and dealt with abuse all of her life. And yet, she can’t find the courage to overcome it. That is, until she finds a support system ready, willing, and able to help her let go and forge her own path. 

Gina Jones gives a great performance as Raye, the woman who we see as a child witness abuse and then later in life, becoming the victim herself. While the film drags a bit for a good hour, it is within good reason. It is showing a range of emotions when it comes to Raye. Meanwhile, Shane McCormick is proof that playing a villain just shows what a good actor you are. Here, he is the abusive Frank, who we learn had endured his own abuse as a child and thus, thinks he can be in complete control and yet, has a sense of hypocrisy as he tells Raye that he is not like his father. But he is and he just doesn’t realize it. 

The side story involving a young man who moves back in with his mother and enduring verbal abuse at the hands of both her and his petulant sister, who clearly sits there on her phone acting like she’s the golden child. The fact it comes out more of a side story doesn’t really make an impact on the overall film. However, an incident in the better third act reveals despite having to take a lot of crap, he will protect his family and like Raye’s story, it seems to impact his life in a way as well.

Trapped starts out slow, but really picks up an hour into the film. However, it does not hinder the great performances by both Gina Jones and Shane McCormick. Craig Fairbrass makes the most of his role as a hopeful conscience to one of the characters. The side story seems a bit like a throwaway at times, but makes sense as well considering the topic of the film.