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Each day, families get up and race through their morning routines: grabbing breakfast, brushing teeth, hurrying off to meet the bus. It isn’t until our kindergartner first comes home talking about active shooter drills that we begin to realize what could happen in today’s schools. And in The Desperate Hour (originally known as Lakewood), one mom finds herself facing her greatest fears.
The Desperate Hour stars Naomi Watts as Amy Carr, a widowed mom of two who’s spent the year since her husband’s death struggling to keep her family from falling apart. Sometimes it’s just all too much—so, one Friday morning, she decides to take a day to regroup. And after fighting with her sullen teenage son, Noah (Colton Gobbo), and trying to get him to get up and get to school, she decides to go for a run. But the peace of her run is broken when she discovers that her kids’ schools are on lockdown.
Miles from home and with no one nearby to drive her to the town’s community center, where parents are gathering, Amy makes one frantic phone call after another, trying to determine whether her kids are safe. She keeps running, despite a twisted ankle, her calls getting more panicked. Admittedly, the setup feels a bit strange, the situations a little too coincidental, making the film feel somewhat off-putting. This beautiful, serene setting, complete with fall leaves and bright, sparkling sunshine suddenly turns threatening. But as Amy connects with friends, a supportive 911 dispatcher, and a helpful guy at the auto body shop near school—all the while trying to find the best path through the woods to get her to the Lyft driver who’s stuck in traffic—she takes viewers along with her on this increasingly frenzied race to find her kids. No matter how strange the setting may be, you can’t help but get caught up in Amy’s panic.
The Desperate Hour may be a short, simple movie—just one talented star alone in the woods with her phone—but it doesn’t really need any more. Watts is definitely up to the challenge, making viewers feel the character’s desperation. The film depicts every parent’s worst fears: our kids frightened, in danger, and alone. As Amy speaks to the police, who start to ask questions that no one wants to hear, the character’s pain and fear are palpable. And especially for the second half—once you’re finally settled into the story and its setting—you may find yourself struggling to catch your breath.
Though the simplicity of this mostly one-woman show was borne out of necessity during the pandemic, it’s not necessarily a disadvantage. Watts puts in an emotional performance to create a stripped-down but intimate story of a mother’s desperation to save her children.
The Desperate Hour opens in theaters on February 25, 2022.
Listen to the review on Reel Discovery:
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