Movie Review: B&B (2017)

Once you've won a battle, should you rub it in the face of the loser? In May 2017 Marc decided to return to a business and get what he won, but sometimes things are never that simple.

Directing this 87-minute suspense/thriller is Joe Ahearne.

Some of the cast is: Tom Bateman as Marc, Sean Teale as Fred, Paul McGann as Josh, Callum Woodhouse as Paul and James Tratas as Alex.

When Marc and Fred stayed at a B&B (Bed and Breakfast) they asked for a room with a single bed. Due to his beliefs, Josh the owner refused them the single bed. So, Marc and Fred took the owner to court and won. Now, Marc and Fred show back up at the B&B to get what they wanted the first time
they were here. Unfortunately, what was supposed to be a lovely stay, and a bit of a victory lap for Marc turns into a night of terror when a Russian neo-Nazi checks in.

Come to find out (writer/director) Joe Ahearne got the idea for the film from an actual experience he had with his husband while staying at a B&B. "We didn't feel at all threatened but had a definite sensation of not being entirely welcome, like we weren't really supposed to be there. " Ahearne also said, "It was that germ of unease I magnified for a suspense film." So by combining a real life experience, a desire to do a thriller in the Hitchcock's vein he came up with a story about gay characters that make the wrong choices and get terrified out of their wits.
                         

I have to say, right off the bat, I really liked the premise of the movie. You have two individuals that felt they were wrongly treated and went to court to fight for their rights. So far, nothing out of the ordinary. Unfortunately, after winning their court case Marc feels the need to go back to the bed and breakfast for a victory stay. Now, things start to get uncomfortable... for everyone involved. What stood out to me about Ahearne's story was his ability to, like he said, take reality and twist it into a thriller. Ahearne's story has such a smooth flow between the reality of what we see and what we imagine once we're put into a stressful situation. What I mean by that is when we are put into a stressed state, we start to notice how "everyone" is staring at us. Or are they really looking at us be-cause of the way we're acting? Once Ahearne's thriller kicks off you realize imagination is far from the problem, it's definitely the situation. Another thing that made this one good is all the twists and turns thrown in to keep things hopping.

As for the playthrough, I thought the pace moved a bit slow at first but once things kick off the pace picks up and stays steady till the end. During the story you're introduced to a small cast, but that really works for this one because it allows more focus on the scenes and dialogue, which there are some really good ones throughout the movie. Yeah, this movie is about a gay couple fighting with a Christian business owner about who's right and who's wrong and Ahearne uses this one to throw out some thought provoking conversations to make you think. I liked the way the story plays out. There are moments when both sides take things too far and we are shown not everything is so cut and dry. We are reminded that we don't know what other people are going through in life and that our actions affect others around us, even when we don't know it.
                                               

The cast did a great job. I thought Bateman and Tale had good chemistry together as the couple, but oddly, the chemistry between Bateman and McGann (B&B owner) was even better. Bateman and McGann have such a cat/dog relationship (on screen), which made for some great interactions between them. The dialogue Ahearne come up with between Bateman and McGann, some moments of subtle and others outright (verbal) attacks, were some of my favorite spots.

Overall, it's a bit slow here and there, but the twists make this one worth catching.

It's rated NR (not rated) but has language and violence.

3 stars


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