The journalist Kate (Thandie Newton) and her estranged husband, the architect Martin (Cillian Murphy), rent an isolated house in Fairweather Cottage in the Blackholme Island expecting to rekindle their love and save their marriage after a miscarriage of Kate. The owner, Doug (Jimmy Yuill), brings the couple in his boat and they have only a Citizen Band (CB) radio to communicate with him. Soon they have problem with the generator and Doug helps them, repairing the equipment. When Kate sees a wounded stranger in the island, she calls Martin and they bring him to the house. They note that the man is dressed with military uniform and has a weapon, and Martin hides the gun. The stranger wakes up and tells that he is Private Jack Corman (Jamie Bell) and he is fleeing from a pandemic in the continent. Further, they must isolate the house to protect themselves against the deadly airborne virus. Kate does not buy his story but Martin gives his gun back. Who is Jack? Is he telling the truth?"Retreat" is a boring and annoying psychological thriller, with a terrible story and unlikable characters. There are many flaws in the plot and stupid reactions and plot points. Thandie Newton's character is irritating and she has histrionic performance. The final plot point with the truth about Jack is kind of absurd. My vote is three.Title (Brazil): Not Available on DVD or Blu-Ray

I am definitely a fan. Retreat was a good, fast paced movie with some well placed and unexpected twists. I was thoroughly brought in by the film, constantly feeling intrigued and trying to figure out what could possibly happen next. Granted, some may say it as full at first, with which no could not disagree, but the rest of the movie really made up for it. Everything just added up to make this film thoroughly enjoyable.Never did I expect some of the content in this film, especially the ending (sit this one out, and don't give up on it - it gets SO much better toward the ending). I don't want to give spoilers, but expect a shocking turn of events, right up to the last minute.Sit back and enjoy... If you can... You might just be too excited to sit still.

This film bears more than few similarities to another really bad film "Right at Your Door", which should send some potential viewers running from it. The characters are bland, the "plot twist" at the end was telegraphed from the beginning, none of it makes any sense whatsoever. What a waste of a talented cast this film was. Three incredible actors in Cillian Murphy, Thandie Newton and Jamie Bell are completely wasted in this tripe. As soon as Jamie Bell arrives in the film and starts barricading up the house without so much as any protest from Murphy's and Newton's characters I knew the film was going to be dreadful. The ambition of building tension is failed and the dynamics between the characters is completely screwed up, although Jamie Bell is very menacing, as the pretense is complete balls. Do not waste your time on this film, it is utter drivel.

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!