Menu
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Podcast
      • Slice of SciFi 962: Escape Pod: The Science Fiction AnthologyFeaturing “Escape Pod: The Science Fiction Anthology”
      • Slice of SciFi 961: BreachIndie SciFi Action: “Breach” takes on fleeing an alien invasion
      • Slice of SciFi 960: Hunter Hunter“Hunter Hunter”: When the lines between hunter and prey are blurred
      • Slice of SciFi: "Skylines" (2020)“Skylines”: Talking to Liam O’Donnell & Alexander Siddig
    • View all
  • Movie Reviews
      • Promising Young Woman (2020)“Promising Young Woman” and the harsh truths of trauma and justice
      • Review: Parallel (2020)“Parallel” takes on the mental and moral tolls of using parallel worlds
      • Review: I'm Your Woman (2020)“I’m Your Woman” shines with a different take on the mobster’s wife
      • Review: Archenemy (2020)“Archenemy”: Working with the Superhero You Find
    • View all
  • TV Reviews
      • "Project Blue Book"“Project Blue Book” explores the threads of UFO reports
      • Manifest Season 1: 5 Episodes In5 Episodes In: “Manifest”
      • 5 Episodes In: Reverie5 Episodes In: “Reverie”
      • 5 Episodes In: Marvel's Cloak and Dagger5 Episodes In: “Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger”
    • View all
  • DVD Reviews
      • The Dark and The Wicked (2020)“The Dark and The Wicked” and the Monstrous Weight of Grief
      • Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Collection“What’s Up Doc?”: A Look at 80 Years of Bugs Bunny
      • Batman: Death in the Family (2020, animated)“Batman: Death in the Family” makes alternate timelines fun
      • The Pale Door (2020)“The Pale Door”: A Weird Western Highlight
    • View all
  • Columns
  • News
      • TV News
      • Film News
      • DVD News
      • Interviews
      • Events
      • Geeky, Funny & Weird
      • Online Entertainment News
      • Music News
      • On Stage
      • Space News

Slice of SciFi

This is How We Geek Out: Interviews, Reviews & More

  • Writers, After Dark
  • Horror Happenings
  • The Babylon Podcast
  • SciFi Shop Talk
  • Slice of SciFi TV
  • Contact Us
“Rupture” Toys with Transformation and True Natures

“Rupture” Toys with Transformation and True Natures

April 28, 2017 By Ro Leave a Comment

Rupture starts with a scream and a moment more than one person’s experienced (although probably not with a creature of this size) a big spider in the bathroom. Renee (Noomi Rapace) is afraid of spiders. So much so, her son Evan (Percy Hynes) must rush in and capture the creature and remove it from the house before she can finish getting ready for the day…

Renee and Evan seem like a typical mother and son getting ready before leaving the house. But there are hints that everything with this family is not as it seems. Renee may be scared of spiders, but she’s not spineless or unable to manage the day-to-day of living by herself. Shortly after the bathroom incident, we hear Renee’s half of a phone call where she finalizes plans to go skydiving. She may rattle but she doesn’t break. By establishing the duality of the central character’s personality immediately Shainberg prepares us for her behavior to come. With smart cut away shifts to camera angles that can’t be anything other than surveillance footage and unexplained shots of someone tampering with her car, the stage is set for a day that, in one way or another, will not end like any other in the past.

Rupture (2017)
(L-R) Michael Chiklis as Bald Man and Noomi Rapace as Renee in the sci-fi thriller “RUPTURE”. Photo courtesy of AMBI Media Group.

Steven Shainberg combines expected genre tropes (everyone needs a good jump moment) with that feeling of being watched that keeps you looking over your shoulder – even in your own house – in a manner that sets up a subtle but persistently growing feeling of unease. This movie isn’t a typical anything. If crisis reveals character, according to the disturbingly matter-of-fact group lead by Peter Stormare and including the chilling duo of Michael Chiklis and Kerry Bishé, terror will reveal Renee’s true self.

Rupture contains one of the more well executed abduction and transportation scenes that transitions quickly into a series of events that are just plan unsettling. Renee’s confronted by a benignly smiling woman (Leslie Manville) who informs her of predicament while calmly stripping her of her pants, chaining her to a bench and leaving her a chamber pot. Using a woman for this role heightens the sheer tenseness and discomfort of these scenes in a way a man would not. Manville with her disturbingly placid affect is completely convincing and creepy. The movie goes from one claustrophobic environment to another which establishes the “bug under a microscope” feeling perfectly suited to this “existential” experiment; but it could’ve used more connective depth to anchor all the moving parts.

Rupture (2017)
(L-R) Michael Chiklis as Bald Man, Kerry Bishé as Dianne, Ari Millen as Dr. Raxlen, and Noomi Rapace as Renee in the sci-fi thriller “RUPTURE”. Photo courtesy of AMBI Media Group.

On the one hand, it would be easy to accuse this film of going for the obvious torture element but there’s a subtle message at play delivered through cool dialogue and visualized on screen as Renee discovers who her captors really are, what it is they really want, and that she’s not the only subject undergoing harrowing experiences here; all while you’re slightly unsure if what you’re witnessing as she’s running around (not escaping) is happening while she’s actually strapped to a gurney rather moving around the facility seemingly with ease. There’s a lot of running, some poorly timed exploring, and creepy moments to be had. If you’re catching the dialogue cues as the movie unfolds, you begin to question what’s happening along with the main character and in the end, you’re not too sure if this group of “enlightened” accomplished their aim or unleashed something in Renee not even they truly understand. It’s an intriguing story, that could’ve used it’s time less on the lead up to the transformation and more on post-transformed Renee.

After sitting on this movie a while, before trying to write anything, I figured out what was my issue is with the film. Rupture feels like an introduction; like any good prologue its laid out its themes, shown the inner character of the movie’s core people and left me ready for the rest of the story to begin. It left me curious far more than I should’ve been after 102 minutes.

and for the record, I REALLY hate spiders.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5


Rupture is the story of recently divorced mother Renee (Noomi Rapace) who, after dropping her son off to spend the weekend with his overbearing father, is lured into a trap and abducted by a group of people intent on forcing her to participate in what appears to be a clinical human trial. It quickly becomes clear these people desperately want something from Renee and their willing to scare her within an inch of her life to get it.

CAST: Noomi Rapace, Peter Stormare, Kerry Bishe, Michael Chiklis
DIRECTOR: Steven Shainberg
WRITERS: Brian Nelson, Steven Shainberg

Rupture
3

Summary

Steven Shainberg combines expected genre tropes with that feeling of being watched that keeps you looking over your shoulder – even in your own house – in a manner that sets up a subtle but persistently growing feeling of unease. This movie isn’t a typical anything.

Sending
User Review
0 (0 votes)
TwitterFacebookEmail

Filed Under: Film Reviews Tagged With: horror

About Ro

I'm a blerd with a law degree who stumbled into a career in healthcare regulatory compliance. I'm a pop culture junkie, social justice and political back-talker living and working in Southern California. In my free time, I read and review books at shelfenvy.com, live tweet action, sci-fi/fantasy shows and often contemplate a career change so I can write that story that just won’t leave me alone.
shelfenvy.com | Twitter: @BookBlerd

Related Posts

Slice of SciFi #414: An Interview with “Dexter” Composer Daniel Licht
10 Cloverfield Lane
Reviewing “10 Cloverfield Lane”
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019)
“Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” isn’t quite sure how to tell its tale

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Search in posts
Search in pages
Filter by Categories
Audio Productions
Awards News
Book News
Book Reviews
Columns
Comics News
DVD News
DVD Reviews
Entertainment Business News
Events
Fan Films
Fan Productions
Film News
Film Reviews
Gaming News
Geeky, Funny & Weird
Human Interest
Interviews
Music News
On Stage
Online Entertainment News
Science News
Slice of SciFi
Slice Video News
Space News
Specials
Technology News
TV News
TV Reviews

Subscribe to Podcast

Apple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsAndroidiHeartRadioStitcherTuneInRSS

Listen to Slice of SciFi

iTunes
iHeart Radio
Player.FM
RSS
 

Keep Up With Slice of SciFi

  • Movie & TV Reviews

Recent Comments

  • Summer Brooks on “Near Dark”: Stacey Abbott on teaching vampire lore: “I hadn’t remembered until I was making the graphic for this episode that I own a copy of READING ANGEL…”
  • Joyce Gravino on “Near Dark”: Stacey Abbott on teaching vampire lore: “Thank you for this episode. I now have to to look for the reading angel book and the x-files one…”
  • Daniel M on Giveaway: “2067” on DVD: “back to the future”
  • jason f on Giveaway: “2067” on DVD: “I love Back To The Future, but also agree with Miguel. I remember seeing Star Trek IV at the movie…”
  • AEKZ2 on Giveaway: “2067” on DVD: “X-Men: Days of Future Past is my favorite.”
Tweets by @sliceofscifi
death to humans 160x600
Save 10-50% on in-stock toys at TFAW.com.

Slice of SciFi
1121 Annapolis Rd PMB 238
Odenton MD 21113
602-635-6976

Artwork:
Slice of SciFi spiral logo designed by Tim Callender

Theme Music:
Slice of SciFi music and themes
courtesy of Sci-Fried

Sister Sites:
Writers, After Dark
Horror Happenings
SciFi Shop Talk
Slice of SciFi TV

Copyright © 2005–2021 · Magazine Pro Theme On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in