Never Have I Ever – Unrestricted View Horror Film Festival 2024

Film: Custom

Type: 

Country: UK

Writer / Director: Damon Rickard

Rating: 6.5 / 10

Alcoholic writer Sam has an important deadline for work and the last thing he needs is any additional stress. Cue him losing his bank card, having his work deleted from his laptop and trying to figure out who left the mysterious bottle of wine on his kitchen cabinet. Needing a break, Sam (Andrew Lee Potts) goes to the local pub for a pint where friendly stranger Mara (Beatrice Fletcher) offers to buy him a drink and be a listening ear. Little does he know that this newfound companionship will be something he’ll come to regret.

Damon Rickard’s tense mostly two-hander relies a lot on the lead actors to pull off the detailed script, so thankfully Potts and Fletcher are up to the task! The pair are wonderfully cast – Potts unfazed and grumpy, Fletcher manipulative and calculated, the characters are an enjoyable balance of personalities that keep the audience engaged throughout. The story is shown from both perspectives, which is a interesting technique as Mara’s motives are slowly revealed, and from this point onward its filled with slow revelations and mini-twists that lead to the nicely wrapped up final scenes.

There are some points where the unbelievable, too coincidental nature of the script starts to border on corny rather than captivating – e.g the slightly too neat intertwining, or the fact someone was breaking in and leaving objects in his home and he barely batted an eyelid. These small details could be approached with a bit more realism to make the shock aspects in the storyline hit harder by feeling more natural. This being said, although Mara’s role is initially predictable, until the latter scenes, there’s no real indication why she’s doing what she’s doing, which keeps the audience guessing and engaged throughout. Less horror, more dramatic thriller, this is a well fleshed out storyline, with a great cast that bring it to life.

The incredible Unrestricted View Horror Film Festival is now in it’s 9th year – a brilliant festival for scary movie fans with a curated collection of some of the best independent horror features, shorts & web series. The screenings take place mainly at the wonderful Hen & Chickens Theatre in Highbury & Islington!