There is such a devious sense of uncertainty at the start of Detained that it’s a shame co-writer/director Felipe Mucci’s film turns out to be as patently ridiculous as it is. Movies this ridiculous, of course, can be the source of some fun, either intentional or not, but it often comes down to that question of intent. If Mucci and co-screenwriter Jeremy Palmer truly wanted to delight their audience with the silliness on display in their movie, one would think they’d be trying a little harder to make us laugh with it. As directed and written, the movie we’re seeing here is mostly worth some laughs at it.
Part of that might have to do with the film’s opening scene, which is yet another one of those instances of a movie shooting itself in the foot by showing us some part of the aftermath of its climax. Theoretically, Mucci and Palmer must have reasoned that, by doing this and flashing back to the actual beginning of the story, our sense of intrigue about where the movie goes would be heightened. Sometimes, such plotting does work, but the movie must actually possess an ability to surprise us on its way back in the direction of that flash-forward prologue from where we pick up after the opening credits. There are no such surprises, unless one counts the degree to which the movie consistently underwhelms us after teasing some intriguing idea as a surprise.
For however much it counts, this review will not mention specific details of that opening scene, even though the filmmakers seem to believe it is helpful. Instead, we’ll begin at the beginning, with a woman named Rebecca (Abbie Cornish) awakening to find herself handcuffed to a table in a police interrogation room, having no idea how she got there or why she is under arrest. The pieces quickly come together, courtesy of detectives Avery (Laz Alonso) and Moon (Moon Bloodgood): After having far too much to drink at a local bar, Rebecca crashed into a cyclist and killed the poor man. Very soon, the DNA will come back tying her to the crime, and in the meantime, she’ll be kept under lock and key.
An interesting thing about Mucci’s approach here is that he seems to have used a low budget in the film’s favor, at least at first. The police department is not exactly a masterpiece of production design or location scouting. Construction materials are around, and the place is half-painted, which the detectives claim is part of a renovation. This is a clever way of hiding budgetary issues, because it also keeps the film’s protagonist on her toes.
The film’s first twist, which can be explicitly discussed because it’s so obvious that no one present really bothers to hide it, arrives part of the way into Rebecca’s interrogation. It becomes plainly aware that her connection to a dead con artist, as well as a seven-figure sum that the man owed to some interested parties, is known to these detectives, as well as to Isaac (Justin H. Min), the lawyer called in to represent Rebecca. Isaac, by the way, represents another clue that there’s something off here, since he has no knowledge of legal procedure and always, thanks to Min’s frankly bizarre performance, seems flustered. Other characters arrive to add more mystique in time for the second, just-as-obvious twist, and then the body count begins.
This movie about con artists has almost no respect for the artistry in their confidence games. The question of whether the performances are effective is something of a red herring in its own right, since their qualities are consistently shifting – or halting altogether when the script decides it no longer needs a character to be a red herring. That second twist might be obvious, but it’s also the main reason Detained is such a fascinating but laughable mess. We can only chuckle in recognition of bad storytelling, although the lesson learned is that it was clear from the opening scene.
Photo courtesy of Quiver Distribution
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