daggersineyes Despite the presence of the wonderful Cillian this movie was an absolute disaster. The wife irritated me from the very first scenes and she never got any more sympathetic. The husband was weak & pathetic but I did have some liking for him until he gave the lunatic the gun. There was absolutely no sense in that scene - why would he believe there were people "out there" when he hadn't seen any? And even if he believed it, why give the crazy dude the gun? Why not just keep it yourself? And on that subject, why did the crazy guy keep giving the axe to the husband if he was supposed to be the macho army bloke surely HE'D want the axe and be the one doing the main defending. Things went from bad to worse when we were stuck with long sessions of people talking about themselves and relationship woes while nothing else happened and boredom set in with a vengeance. There was almost no action or suspense or anything interesting happening in this movie at all, at any point. Very disappointing. There really isn't anything to recommend this movie for, not even Cillian, unless you're the kind of person who just likes to watch a whole film about people being tense and whiney with each other while one of them messes with the other two people's heads.

macblackslair Martin, Kate, Jack - Retreat doesn't need many more characters to play with the audience's emotions. Jamie Bell' performance is outstanding. Jack's behavior triggers many emotions and Jamie does an excellent job delivering Jack's fierce and intense lines and actions. I have to admit Martin's personality is quite difficult to grasp. As Retreat doesn't contain much dialog, it's a challenge at times to understand what he feels and why he reacts the way he does. Don't get me wrong, I liked Cillian's performance, but I couldn't care that much for Martin. His character develops in leaps I can't comprehend sometimes. Whereas Jack literally penetrates my mind, Martin appears hollow and indifferent. Thandie Newton is awesome, although in the beginning I wasn't sure if I truly like her. She develops nicely though and turns out to be much stronger than one might guess. Retreat is a psychological thriller and succeeds in keeping your mind busy. It doesn't feel like an actual movie though; it rather feels like a play. Thus I wouldn't recommend it to people who seek action and entertainment.

MattyGibbs This is a sparse but nicely filmed thriller which I was drawn to by an interesting premise and a decent looking cast. It starts off very slowly, maybe too slowly but gradually once the mysterious soldier played by Jamie Bell appears the tension increases as you try and decide if the threat is real or imagined. This is a film that keeps you guessing right to the end.Retreat boasts a very impressive cast. Jamie Bell, Cillian Murphy and Thandie Newton are all excellent actors and all put in good performances. The isolated and stunning location provides a welcome diversion at times from the claustrophobic setting inside the cottage. This is a decent thriller with what I thought was a very good ending. Definitely worth catching if you get the chance.

Hesse-02 I'm not sure how I was recommended this movie as the movie came out in 2008 and we just viewed it in 2012!! And I agree, what's with the low IMDb score, we thought it was excellent!! Too many 10 year old's voting these days? Probably. Well I was very impressed by 1) cinematography and especially the island shots - just a beautiful paradise that the couple returns to for a holiday. And 2) the acting! Thandie Newton is so good in everything she does and Cillian Murphy I've seen from Batman series but couldn't take my eyes off him! As the story goes the tension builds and build, and when Jamie Bell shows up and starts talking contagious fatal world wide virus... what to do? Is he telling the truth, a 1/2 truth? I thought it had nothing in common with Dead Calm. I liked this much better. Much better fleshed out characters and you just really couldn't figure out what was going to happen which I really thought was a breath of fresh air. Movie is recommended if you are looking for a good night of suspense!