Rattle the Cage Film Difficulty Ranking: 2
Why Watch Rattle the Cage?
- It’s an unexpectedly violent genre film from the United Arab Emirates
- To be entertained by a charismatic lead villain
- If you like your films confined to one room
From: United Arab Emirates, Asia Watch: Trailer, Netflix, JustWatch Next: The Platform, Silence of the Lambs, Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence
Framing the Limited Space
In the very first shot, Talal wakes from a dream. The camera backs away from a close up of his eyes to reveal the prison bars he’s imprisoned by, before it swivels round to show the empty police station room, ending on the door which a police officer promptly opens. In this dizzying opening one take shot, we learn Talal is dreaming of a woman and child and that he’s a prisoner in a small town police station. It quickly establishes the setting of Rattle the Cage.
The director, Majid Al Ansari, uses the single take again later in the film after the dramatic entry of the eccentric villain Dbaan to enforce Talal’s helplessness. Right after Talal witnesses Dbaan kill the officer on duty and disappear out the door, Talal runs to the window in his cell to try and attract help. But, as he does so, the camera flies past him at the window to show him banging on the window for help from the outside, as a mechanic on the other side of the road shuts up shop for the day. For added emphasis, the camera zooms out to give us an aerial shot of the police station with only a handful of buildings around it. We can see that the police station is isolated and Talal’s chances of escape or getting help is minimal.
The Charismatic villain
Dbaan is the star of Rattle the Cage. He dominates all of the shots he’s in from the moment he enters the police station and assassinates the officer on duty in front of a terrified Talal. He comes across as a mix of Monty Python’s John Cleese and the classic unpredictable Hollywood villain (the Joker, Hannibal Lecter). He flips between cracking jokes and violence; sweet talking the police station’s assistant and threatening Talal’s family. But he also makes his character unique, to stand out from the canon of Hollywood villains he draws from. He verbalizes his thought process to make it more excruciating for Talal and fist pumps when his hypotheses turn out to be correct. Dbaan provides the entertainment in an otherwise simple one-location thriller.
Netflix’s New Bread and Butter?
This isn’t the first single location, small cast, international film I’ve seen that’s popped up on Netflix. The Platform is stuck in a dystopian prison, Warehoused features two people working in an empty warehouse, and Insomnia Club follows three lost souls that bond in a Mexico City 7 Eleven. All these films have little location exposition beyond the rooms they’re set in and feature very small casts. They all feel like the low budget indies like Locke and Buried that have been overshadowed in the industry over the last few years as studios have shifted to bigger franchise films. Do these films mean Netflix is choosing to fill the gap that the studios aren’t filling?
What to Watch Next
First of all, if you’re interested in watching more thrillers set within a a single location, check out The Platform, Locke, and Buried. The Platform is stuck in a dystopian prison, Locke takes place in a single car journey, whilst Buried claustrophobically takes place underground in a coffin.
Or if you’re more interested in films that feature battles between prisoners and their jailers, check out Silence of the Lambs and Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence.
','' ); } ?>