SERPENT (2017)

Studio:       Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Director:    Amanda Evans
Writer:       Amanda Evans
Producer:  Greig Buckle, Amanda Evans
Stars:     Sarah Dumont, Tom Ainsley

Review Score:

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Summary:

A troubled married couple’s relationship is tested when they become trapped in a camping tent with a venomous black mamba.

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Synopsis:     Show/Hide Spoilers

Now having second thoughts, Gwynneth Kealey avoids answering texts and phone calls from a man with whom she has been having an affair. When her entomologist husband Adam receives a grant to search for a new species of beetle, Gwynneth convinces him to take her on his wilderness trip so that she can get away.

Adam and Gwynneth’s romance briefly reconnects on their hike deep into the Suicide Gorge protected conservation area. After finding a wounded baboon spider, swimming, and having sex, the couple camps for the evening.

In the middle of the night, Gwynneth leaves the tent to check texts on her phone from the other man. A screeching bird drives her back to the tent.

During the time when the tent was open, a black mamba slithers inside. Adam sees the snake, recognizes the fatal threat, and immediately warns Gwynneth to not move. This begins several hours of lying still while determining how to leave the sealed tent without causing the snake to strike.

While using Gwynneth’s phone for light, Adam discovers the texts from the other man. Gwynneth reveals she is pregnant. Adam realizes her baby isn’t his.

The couple continues plotting how to escape as night becomes day. An attempt to gas the snake results in Adam being on top of Gwynneth. His anger boiling, Adam begins strangling his wife. Gwynneth bites Adam’s finger to force him to stop.

Gwynneth professes her love for Adam. They kiss.

Adam comes up with a plan for one of them to risk a bite by wrangling the snake with a sleeping bag while the other person goes for the medical bag outside. Gwynneth points out that she is faster and should go for the bag.

Still thinking about her infidelity, Adam asks Gwynneth if the other man would be willing to die for her. Gwynneth counters by questioning if the other man would try to kill her.

The couple holds up a sleeping bag to separate themselves from the snake. Gwynneth reacts too early and suddenly tries beating the snake as it slithers underneath the bag. The snake bites her twice.

Adam rips open the tent, wraps the snake in the sleeping bag, and throws it outside. The snake lunges at Adam, who falls into a nearby pool of water. The snake goes in the water too. After a fight, Adam strangles and kills the snake.

Back in the tent, Gwynneth ties off her bitten arm with a bootlace. Her wounds visibly worsen.

Adam struggles to climb out of the rock enclosure around the water. Adam makes it out and reaches his medical bag, but discovers he has bite wounds in three places. Adam begins hallucinating from the venom, and sees the scarab beetle he was searching for crawling in and out of his wounds.

Adam recovers a needle of medicine from the bag. He also uses the phone in the bag to send an emergency distress call.

Gwynneth crawls out of the tent. She hallucinates a vision of a dying baby lying on the rocks who morphs into a black mamba.

Adam and Gwynneth crawl to each other and reunite. Over Gwynneth’s protests, Adam insists on giving her the injection. As they both collapse on the rocks, the camera pulls away. The sound of a helicopter is heard.

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Review:

Here is the premise: A camping couple with marital problems becomes trapped in their tent with a venomous snake.

Here is the likeliest question: How does that simple setup sustain a 90-minute movie?

Here is the answer: “Serpent” is not a “man vs. beast” B-movie of popcorn entertainment fit for double billing alongside “Piranha” or “Anaconda.”  Amanda Evans’ directorial feature debut is a psychological portrait exploring a fractured marriage facing internal as well as external threats.  “Serpent” isn’t simply about the situation.  It’s about how the situation compels these two people to relate to one another.

Also, before invoking the dismissive “Child’s Play” question of, “why don’t they just kick over the killer doll and be done with it,” understand that Adam and Gwynneth aren’t trapped with any average snake.  Their third tentmate is a black mamba: the world’s fastest land snake, second largest venomous snake, and one of the deadliest apex predators known to man.  If you were caught in an 8’x8’ enclosure with one the same length as the floor, it would be extremely unwise to make any sudden moves that involve throwing sleeping bags around in a panic.

Bear with this slight stretch of an analogy.  Some sports fans find excitement in the unceasing back-and-forth battle of basketball.  Others prefer baseball’s long stretches of anticipation punctuated by quick hits of adrenaline.  Sometimes, neither camp of devotees fully understands why the other doesn’t define “thrilling” the same way.

The type of tension in “Serpent” is tailored for people who prefer the pitcher’s duel.  Exhilaration isn’t equated with energetic athleticism culminating in a high score.  Suspense stems from a chess match faceoff where foes are forced to calculate every possible action and reaction.  If you aren’t interested in examining silent stares with wonder over what everyone, snake included, is thinking, “Serpent” is unlikely to captivate with its claustrophobic conflict.

The snake doesn’t slither into the movie until one-third of the way through, although its persistent presence from that point keeps its share of discomfort consistent.  The tension within Adam and Gwynneth’s relationship on the other hand, doesn’t necessarily operate at the same intensity as the tension taking place in the tent.  These dueling dangers threatening the couple sit atop a skewed seesaw of unbalanced suspense.  This ruptures rhythm when the focus swings back toward sorting issues of infidelity while two fatal fangs sit in the center.

Even though “Serpent” takes its straightforward story as far as it can reasonably go, audience engagement isn’t always incentivized to stretch at the same pace.  40+ minutes is a long time to spend confined to the same flat four walls in a scenario without much flux in its fiction.  Static lighting doesn’t do much to liven the film visually, though the camera moves considerably considering how restricted the space is.

Several shots are creative, often accompanied by a clever sound.  One features Gwynneth in a pond with muted ambient noise both times her ears dip underwater.  Another includes amplified audio of an eyelid blinking in an extreme close-up, of which the film has many.

Careful thought exists in every move “Serpent” makes, which is why its slips are all the more perplexing.  Other aspects of cinematography are rough-edged, such as choices to cut before an action has settled or centering on indiscernible imagery like a lump of fabric or nape of a neck.  And although Amanda Evans, who also wrote the screenplay, has a metaphor motivating each scene, thematic intent isn’t always expressed to the viewer.

“Serpent,” which was originally titled “Coiled,” is subtle about how it handles its Garden of Eden parallel or ideas concerning rebirth and reconciliation.  Then a juxtaposition of Adam asserting dominance intercut with the black mamba preparing to strike hits with a heavy hand of obviousness.  Applying the same gentle touch to each piece of symbology would go a long way toward evening out the movie’s multiple meanings.  As is, it can be unclear what “Serpent” intends to say.

For the most part, “Serpent” manages to maintain intrigue in spite of a slow step and slim story, both of which are deliberate.  Without succeeding on all fronts, the film still surprises by virtue of how much is attempted within a tight frame.  Impatient people may find the premise wears out its welcome in short order.  Those looking for cerebral drama to echo onscreen suspense will dig up a more fulfilling experience.

Review Score:  65

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