Starring Shauna Macdonald, Oded Fehr

Directed by Paul Raschid

A woman awakes in a stark white chamber – and is told she must obey… Why has she found herself there, and how does it tie in to the fate of the UK?

White Chamber starts off with a very déjà vu feeling for those of us who have enjoyed Cube and its various permutations over the years. It’s a classic trope to engage the audience, finding out answers as we go along – most recently used in the Syfy series Dark Matter. Here, we see Shauna Macdonald’s central character exposed to extremes in an attempt to break her. Unfortunately, when we discover why, things are rather more cliched than you might hope…

It never really feels as if the script ever gives Macdonald, or its other main lead, Oded Fehr, hugely challenging  facets of their characters to portray, although both do get a chance to go over the top. However, both give as strong performances as they can, even if the supporting staff are more one note. That’s not to say that the movie is boring – its 90 minutes or so slip past quite easily – but you’re bound to wonder if with just a few tweaks this could have been far more gripping.

Verdict: Quite a bit of potential that’s never quite realised. 5/10

Paul Simpson