The father of a young woman who recently died of a drug overdose, strands a defense attorney and her former client, who may have raped his daughter 15 years earlier (and was found not guilty) in the forest somewhere, deep in Canada. The grieving father wants the attorney to know what sort of man the accused really is.
This film has the misfortune of coming out some six months after Sam Raimi's SEND HELP which has the same premise of a man and a woman trapped in a location. I am saying this up front because for the most part the two films are not really the same. One is a Hollywood thrill ride that is interested in blood and gore, and the other one is a meditation the things we do and how, perhaps doing the right thing, such as giving an accused man a defense, many not be a good thing.
The early part of SOMEONE'S DAUGHTER makes a strong case that the film is its own thing. Set up aside, for a good chunk of the film, it's actually less a thriller and more a drama. Its a film that explores all sorts of issues about right and wrong. Truthfully I really enjoyed much of the first two thirds of the film because it wasn't do anything I expected.
The problem with the film is it has to have a conclusion, and the choice of where its going wasn't as unexpected as the rest. To be fair, its exactly what I thought it would do. Its so expected that this is where the comparissons to the earlier film are going to come from. To be fair it's not bad, but at the same time it isn't up to the earlier part of the film.
Is this a bad film. No. It's just unfortunately one of a great many films that gets in trouble because it has to end. If you're okay with that and want to see a thoughtful film, give SOMEONE'S DAUGHTER a try.
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