Residing on a remote island for peace and quiet, a couple are interrupted by a stranger who claims that a virus has been unleashed. He attempts to convince the couple to barricade themselves in, but with this comes a struggle for power and control. Is the stranger telling the truth? Obviously that question is the purpose of the film, and it is explored thoroughly. Paranoia is an easy trait to use in psychological thrillers, we've seen it multiple times. Retreat is no different, but the scale feels far more personal and thus results in a more affecting story. You feel emotionally invested with the couple who clearly have no choice but to believe the stranger to prevent themselves getting harmed. But aside from that, they are also going through their own personal troubles which assists in making them more relatable. The first act sets this up excellently, watching a couple struggle to find what they once had together. Acting was solid from Cillian Murphy and Thandie Newton, however I do not believe there was much chemistry between them. They didn't really suit each other. Jamie Bell playing the elusive stranger was excellent. Both menacing and mysterious. What are his true motives? The drama and suspense was well crafted and it certainly is enjoyable to watch. The ending...well, it happens. I personally did not like it, but it's an ending atleast. The production occasionally feels like a British TV show. By that, I mean the direction feels rather simple and clinical. Nothing outstanding or memorable. It's like watching Broadchurch or Happy Valley (literally the first two shows that come to mind). The location of a remote island was a clever choice for enhancing the feeling of being trapped and lonely. So whilst Retreat is absolutely fine to watch and does contain some thrilling performances, it's just underwhelming and feels all too familiar. But Cillian Murphy...the guy is underrated!

As a Brit, i rarely watch British movies due to my personal taste of simply disliking them, but 'Retreat' is a rare exception. The main plot is catchy and i'm glad i gave this film a chance. 'Retreat' has great performances, very good directing along with a nice film score. The bad guy became a bad guy by circumstance. The film becomes an issue of if he can be trusted or not. The husband and wife characters don't know whether they can trust him / whether this guy is paranoid and crazy or whether he's telling them the truth, the viewers are made to relate to these husband and wife characters due to the movie doing a very good job of keeping the audience in the dark as well.'Retreat' is a very tense thriller with a minimal cast, there should be more movies like this with a great plot and with literally only a few characters, films like this are proof that a movie doesn't need to have a big number cast to make a film great.The only thing that is wrong with this flick is a couple of comments of sexism coming from the bad guy "Jack", example - when he tells the husband that they can't allow the woman to make all the decisions, and the scene where he puts food out and tells her to make him breakfast, when he can easily make it himself (but then again that particular scene was a means to an end for that moment, it was set up to simply build a tense outcome, but still they could have done that outcome in a different way without the sexism).'Retreat' has quite a few plot-twists and the very end scene is shocking and unexpected.If you like thrillers, i recommend renting this film on Amazon Prime Video.

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.

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.