Vertigo Releasing, out now

A young couple looking for the perfect starter home find themselves trapped in a mysterious labyrinth-like neighbourhood of identical houses called Yonder.

In the opening moments of Lorcan Finnegan’s disturbing sci-fi drama, a cuckoo pushes a baby bird out of a nest, and this in a nutshell is what happens during the next 100 minutes. What starts as an exaggerated riff on the nightmare of getting your first home or becoming lost in a labyrinthine modern housing estate turns into something nastier and far more disturbing.

Young couple Gemma (Imogen Poots – Green Room) and Tom (Jesse Eisenberg – Zombieland) visit the offices of creepy estate agent Martin (Jonathan Aris – Sherlock) and he offers to take them to the new housing estate called Yonder. Houses are competitively priced and the location is ‘near enough, far enough – just the right distance’. The billboard promises (warns?) that these are family homes forever, but just like Royston Vasey, you’ll never leave!

Having looked round No. 9 on the estate of identical properties, the couple realise that the estate agent has left them, and they are trapped in a maze. Every route takes them back to No. 9, and even an attempt to burn it down leaves no impression. And then a baby arrives in a parcel with the promise that by raising him they’ll be able to leave – but a what cost?

The child grows at a phenomenal rate – he’s the size of a seven year old after three months – and he mocks them with an adult voice and high-pitched screams. Who or what is he? Will they escape? What is the plan? You’ll have to find out yourself. Arguably, it would work better as an episode of Black Mirror or The Twilight Zone, but all credit for being different.

Verdict: A unique sci-if thriller that never plays it safe and might be a little too dark for most tastes, but with hints of Kafka and Lynch you’re assured of a memorable if disturbing ride. 8/10

Nick Joy

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