‘The Pond’ Review
Stars: Marco Canadea, Paul Leonard Murray, Aleksandar Papajic, Leslie Soo | Written by Stefan Andrejic | Directed by Petar Pasic
An anthropology professor is kicked out of his University just as he is claiming to be on the threshold of an apocalyptic discovery. While on suspension he becomes a pond-keeper and gets closer to his revelation. Something is also keeping a close eye on him
What initially drew me to The Pond was a couple of the promotional images. So it should come as no surprise to me that the best thing about The Pond is the imagery it creates. It has creepy, strange and sometimes unnerving imagery in the bucket load. Sometimes coming in the form of masked characters but with no two feeling too similar. It might be two sisters wearing paper bags with faces drawn on them or a man who holds a type of shovel in front of his face as it displays a face on one side. But the ‘Mask Man’ itself is the most striking of images. A topless man with a face (or mask I guess) that looks like a bundle of tree branches kind of growing from his upper chest area. It’s not that it’s particularly scary, it’s just kinda cool and unique-looking.
But it’s not just about the masks. The actual pond itself is suitably foggy and bleak-looking. While there is also some really great-looking shots of the nearby woodland. Everything often feels like it could be some kind of dream (or nightmare) and I’m sure that’s the attention of the director. Especially how the story pans out.
The music fits nicely alongside all of this twisted imagery. Firstly, the score is always there. It’s like a character that never goes away. It’s always creepy though and almost always adds to the tension and creepiness of what is happening.
The two main performances are both solid ones. Marco Canadea as the Professor plays the part well, always looking a bit troubled and paranoid. But you also believe him much of the time and maybe more importantly, want to believe him. His rival (in terms of chess playing during the film) is just called ‘The Chess Player’ in the credits and is played by Paul Leonard Murray. I was surprised he was inexperienced as his IMDb page suggests because he shows confidence and a quirky charisma. I really liked the style of acting he bought to the character.
There’s a bit of anti-climax to the end of the film but I’m not really sure it matters. And I don’t mean that in a bad way at all. I don’t think the budget could have created a major ending that could have happened. But also it’s not that type of film, and the journey getting to that point is just as important, if not more so. It’s all about those sinister images and often scary atmosphere. It creates all that perfectly and that’s what captivates you. When a film looks as good as The Pond often does, does it matter about how much the story grabs you? The answer to that will probably help you decide whether you watch it or not. But I enjoyed this eerie and unique movie.
