Crawl (2019)
It is no secret that the film industry relies on a handful of common tropes as the mainstay of their cinematic output. It uses timeless themes, storylines and archetypes that have featured in folk tales, plays and literature throughout history. Hence their familiarity with audiences around the world. Where the skill in filmmaking lies is to take a common, well known idea and interpret it in a new and innovative fashion. Akira Kurosawa took Shakespeare’s MacBeth and retold the tale through the prism of Japanese feudalistic culture. The result, Throne of Blood, is considered a masterpiece. Similarly, The Lion King retells the same story through the medium of animation and anthropomorphic wildlife. All of which proves that the key to successfully retelling a familiar tale is to be creative with regard to setting, presentation and perspective.
Which neatly brings me to Crawl. A creature feature where the central “McGuffin” is a group of people trapped by wayward wildlife. Hollywood has explored this plot device many times before. Consider The Naked Jungle (1954) in which Charlton Heston faces a swarm of South American ants. Then there is Hitchcock’s The Birds (1963). More recently Bait (2012) features a group of people trapped in a flooded supermarket along with a Great White Shark after a tsunami. Crawl (2019) has a father and daughter trapped in a house during a hurricane. Due to the Florida setting the dangerous beasties are Alligators on this occasion. What makes the film a cut above the average genre outing is a solid script with plausible characters and a decent cast that give life to the proceedings. Director Alexandre Aja builds a genuine sense of tension and punctuates the 87 minute running time with some robust set pieces.
Filmed in Belgrade, the production seamlessly recreates Florida. The digital effects convincingly depict a hurricane and the Alligators are a mixture of animatronics and CGI. But the film’s greatest assets are the main performances by Kaya Scodelario as Haley Keller and Barry Pepper as Dave Keller. Daughter Haley is an aspiring swimmer and her estranged father Dave is her former coach. The screenplay by Michael Rasmussen and Shawn Rasmussen keeps the scope of the narrative simple and immediate, resulting in a plausible family dynamic. The wider cast is minimal and although some characters are merely “red shirts” intended to expedite the threat of the Alligators with their timely deaths, the screenplay doesn’t treat them in a totally arbitrary fashion. The scenes of violence, are well realised, suspenseful and surprisingly unpleasant.
Crawl is content to stick within the parameters it has set itself and concentrates on telling its story to the best of its ability. There is an assumption from some critics that genre movies are by their nature, no more than the sum of their parts. Those with a more enlightened perspective believe that all types of film can craft well told stories and explore deep themes. Crawl is a prime example of an old story told from a fresh and different perspective. Yes, it does include horror elements but that is not all that it has to offer. At its heart this is a film about the perennial theme of fathers and daughters, which Crawl explores this well. It also has a point to make about climate change. However, if you’re just looking for a quality creature feature, complete with jump scares and grisly shocks, then the film also delivers this in spades.
