Eden Lake trailer

The movies poster

The movie is about a couple, Jenny and Steve, that escape for a romantic getaway near a remote lake in a forest somewhere. However, after being there for a while, a group of teenaged hooligans show up and start to ruin the romance for them. After haviong his keys and bag of clothes stolen by the group of boys (and girl), he decides enoughs enough and confronts them. However, after a brief scuffle, Steve accidentally killed the group's leader's dog with a knife one of the other boys had produced. Angrily, the leader tells them to leave, which they do. However, the leader (Brett) decides he does want revenge and hunts them down. After crashing the car and getting trapped, Steve tells Jenny to go and seek help. It is now up to Jenny to escape the forest and save them both, whilst Brett and his gang get closer.

The movie somewhat contradicts the stereotypical feminist view in thrillers, mainly near the end of the film. This is because the film starts with the man (Steve) clearly being the one in charge in the relationship, evident by the way he just ignores Jenny (the woman) as she begs him to not confront the boys. This changes however, when Steve becomes trapped by a branch in the car. She is given the responsibility (albeit by Steve) of going to get help. This shows that, although she was given the power by a man, she still has the power now. The man has lost all his power, and she becomes the main character. This is why it differs from the norm with thriller movies. Also, on this feminist point of view on things, there is a women part of the hoolifgans group. This shows there is some equality between the two, however there is only one girl and about 4 to 5 guys, which also implies there isn't much equality.

One thing to note, a marxists view this time, is that the couple seem to be middle class. A nice car, lots of stuff packed etc. However, the rebellious youths seem to come from a lower class background. This is evidenced by the way they speak and dress, bearing similarities to the modern day CHAV. This also implies the lower class have to use violence in order to overthrow the higher class. This shows there is no equality in this film between the two protagonists (Steve and later Jenny) and Brett and his gang (the antagonists). Also, on this topic, Steve isn't picking on the boys because they are lower in the social hierarchy to him. He isn't even picking on them, he is merely telling them to be more respectful and remember there are other people here. This may seem nice from a marxist point of view, however I disagree. I disagree because the young lads ignore him completely and continue to disrupt his life, even going as far as to steal from him. For this reason, I believe that Steve's warnings that are intended to be good actually come across as bad for the social hierarchy.

There is a link to the trailer below if you want to watch it yourself and come to a conclusion yourselves. Let me know in the comments if you've thought of anything else to add!

Thanks for reading, next blog will be an analysation of the James Bond movie, Casino Royale.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6j3K4MmOKs