River (2015)

My opinion

“Your face. What happened?
I was very drunk last night.
I was riding a bicycle, and I fell.”

Can you imagine this. One moment you’re standing in an operating room amputating someones leg with a saw. The other moment you’re running like a madman through Laos trying to outrun the authorities. This happens to John Lake (Rossif Sutherland), a hard-working doctor, who’s sent on a well-deserved holiday after a discussion with the head doctor. At his destination (It surely isn’t a five star all-inclusive resort) he’s having a few drinks one evening, accompanied by an over friendly bartender. On his way to his humble hut he witnesses an assault on a local girl by a drunken, noisy Australian. And in a split second he makes the wrong decision. Before he knows it, he is a fugitive who’s wanted for murdering the son of an Australian Senator and raping a native girl.

The result is an intense manhunt for the guilty western doctor by the local police. And he’s guilty. That’s a fact. The only thing John has in mind, is not to go on trial in Laos itself. “River” is a film in which desperation, fear and guilt are palpable presence. John, sweaty, bloodied and bruised, is constantly on the run. A boat ride with a local resident. A lift from a couple dodgy looking men. A bus trip which happens to be controlled by a police patrol. It doesn’t matter in what way he travels, as long as he stays out of the hands of the authorities and manages to reach a US Embassy. He even has to make a certain decision in the end, that goes against his moral principles. The result of this nerve-racking race, is that the film never pauses for a moment. The pace is blistering (probably appropriate for the climate there) fast and exhilarating.