The kid's are not alright... Eden Lake (James Watkins 2008)

I've finally got around to seeing this compelling but gruelling film, described by The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw as 'seriously bloody horrible' but also as 'the best British horror film in years' (see here for his excellent review). It is one of those rare films that had me literally squirming in my seat in discomfort, exacerbated by the fact that it offers none of the usual palliatives associated with the genre, instead remaining horrifyingly grim right up to the final credits. The film's protagonists Steve (the brilliant Michael Fassbender) and Jenny (Kelly Reilly) escape the city for a camping weekend beside a nostalgically remembered wooded lake (although the fact that it is an ex-quarry signals a note of incipient darkness). They arrive to find that developers are turning it into 'Eden Lake', a gated community of expensive lakeside properties; however, they find a gap in the imposing security fence and drive down to the lakeshore in Steve's 4x4 Jeep. As they relax by the water their idyll is undermined by the presence of a group of rowdy youths whose loud music and aggressive dog provoke Steve into remonstrating with them. This rapidly turns into a confrontation that escalates as the film progresses, setting in motion the chain of events that lead to its bleak denoument. Bradshaw argues that 'the confrontation here isn't about race and not even exclusively about class; it's not about townies and hillbillies, or blacks and whites, or yuppies and chavs. At bottom, it's about older people and the young: a gang of feral children who are as powerful as adults'. I'm not entirely sure that I agree. Yes, there is no doubt that the film is about the power of children but class, as Bradshaw acknowledges, does play an important role here. Steve and Jenny are resolutely middle class while the children (and their parents) are portrayed as wealthy 'chavs' (see Imogen Tyler's article 'Chav Scum: The Politics of Social Class in Contemporary Britain' here). These parents are the ones that we hear being blamed for the behaviour of their children as we listen to a Radio 4 broadcast (itself a marker of class) over the opening credits, as Steve and Jenny drive down to 'Eden Lake'. Jenny, as an infant school teacher is figured as their polar opposite, which of course makes events later in the film all the more powerful and shocking. As Bradshaw notes, Eden Lake is not a film that one can 'claim to like in any normal sense' (it is after all incredibly violent and graphic) but it is a visually accomplished film and it maintains an unremitting level of tension throughout. If you are planing a 'staycation' this summer, camping out in some English beauty spot, then maybe wait until you get back before you see this movie..!