In Fear is a 2013 British horror film directed by Jeremy Lovering. It stars Iain De Caestecker, Alice Englert and Allen Leech. Although the film is set in Ireland it was filmed on Bodmin Moor, Cornwall.
Tom and Lucy are trapped in a maze of country roads with only their vehicle for protection, terrorised by an unseen tormentor hell-bent on exploiting their worst fears – fear of the dark, fear of the unknown, fear of themselves…
‘Only near the end, when the threat becomes more tangible and the plot machinations more forced, does the film shift down a gear, causing the stomach-knotting tension to abate. Lovering’s taut direction and editor Jon Amos’s skilfully modulated cutting wring the maximum suspense from cinematographer David Katznelson’s multi-camera set-ups, tapping into deep-rooted psychological and primal fears.’ Nigel Floyd, Time Out
‘A compact, effective thriller set in way-rural Ireland, Jeremy Lovering‘s In Fearmakes the most of three actors, a car and a network of narrow roads winding through the woods. Literal-minded viewers might have trouble with a hard-to-rationalize ending, but horror fans in general should embrace its stripped-down scares.’ John DeFore, The Hollywood Reporter
‘In Fear is a definite mixed bag. It offers some thrills only to see them washed away by questionable choices. It owes a debt to the recent (and underseen) Retreat as well as Kim Sung-hong’s near identically-set Say Yes. All three films tread very similar waters and are worth watching, but it’s the Cillian Murphy-starrer that fares the best.’ Rob Hunter, Film School Rejects
‘Claustrophobic and creepy, this experiment in contained horror has its moments as just three characters circle around each other. But the approach is almost infuriatingly vague, which eliminates any real suspense. Still, it’s sharply well shot and played, with a moody atmosphere that builds a strong sense of uncertainty. And director Lovering is extremely adept at making us jump at something unexpected.’ Rich Cline, Contactmusic.com
‘To say that Jeremy Lovering’s directing debut is the best British horror film of 2013 is what one might call low praise. So let’s raise the bar. It’s one of the year’s best horror movies, full stop.’ London Evening Standard
‘It is calculated in its button-pushing, missing out on the awe or transgression that accompanies scariness in more envelope-stretching horrors. In the end, it’s an anecdote rather than a story, even if the last reel holds some well set-up nasty surprises and a pay-off that’s audacious or pretentious, depending on your tolerance for 1970s arty exploitation tricks.’ Kim Newman, Empire
