You’ll Never Find Me (2023) Review

During a ferocious rainstorm, a knock on the caravan door of Patrick (Brendan Rock) reveals a bedraggled, shoeless woman (Jordan Cowan) who was caught in the inclement weather and would like to take a little shelter, perhaps phone for a cab. As conditions worsen, it becomes clear that they’re going to have to spend more time together than planned and, with few places to hide in the cosy location, the duo slowly begin to reveal how they came to be where they are. But who’s kidding who?
Directed by Indianna Bell and Josiah Allen from a script by Bell, You’ll Never Find Me presents the familiar set up of a lone girl arriving at the home of someone who seems a little off from the start and mines that initial tension for all it’s worth, before spinning off into uncertain, intriguing directions as both characters move back and forth along the reliability continuum.

Despite its limited locations and minimal cast, the interest is maintained throughout due to a screenplay which constantly shifts our sympathies between each character, ably played by Rock and Cowan who undermine our expectations of a tale we think we’ve seen many times before, only to hint that there could be something entirely different going on. It’s often the quieter moments that disturb more than the preludes to what could be a jump scare, a case in point being a card game called “bullshit” which sees both parties let down their guards. Or is that what each of them wants to present?

Yes, there are set pieces which play upon the “young woman in peril” genre staples but there’s a mysterious, possibly dangerous edge to this visitor which suggests that Patrick may have made a mistake in allowing someone into his home in the dead of night, regardless of how helpless they may appear. The interactions between the two are full of potential clues and red herrings and, although there are specific lines of dialogue which light the way towards the final act, the interpretations of those could be many and varied and the final reveal may be less obvious to some.

I was wondering if the ultimate explanation of what’s going on could possibly match the careful, skilful build of tension of that first hour and I have to say that the plot settled upon a resolution that felt a little disappointing, possibly because I was expected to be blown away by something matching the freshness of the first two acts, which took all of those genre tropes and flipped them in a pleasing, smart way.

That’s not to say the way in which the climax is presented falls short, as the storm inside and out reaches its peak and the steadily increasing pace of the psychological dance explodes in a disturbing, hallucinatory sequence that instantly reminded me of a more elegant version of the closer to a certain 1980 UK censor baiter. Unlike that movie, the fade out of You’ll Never Find Me leaves the audience to join the dots and search out the cues to those final few minutes as opposed to consider whether or not to be sick.

An impressive feature debut from Bell and Allen which makes a virtue of its scant resources and highlights two exceptionally fine performances from Rock and Cowan, this Adelaide-shot shocker proves that the inheritors of Ozploitation are in rude health, refining and re-defining the subgenre is a vital and inspiring way.

Movie Rating:

You’ll Never Find Me trailer