With gothic flair and a solid turn from Veronica Cartwright, this Maine-set thriller builds tension, only to unravel in the final act.
By James Verniere/Boston Movie News
The winner of the Best-Made-in-Maine Feature Film prize at the Maine International Film Festival 2024, “The Ruse” is a notably Hitchcockian thriller that builds palpable tension and suspense, featuring a tasty performance by veteran Veronica Cartwright, only to see it frittered away by the end.
Written, directed and edited by Stevan Mena, whose previous efforts “Malevolence” (2003) and “Brutal Massacre: A Comedy” (2007) have been dubbed “cult classics” by whoever wrote his IMDB description, “The Ruse” was shot in Blue Hill, Maine and features a small compound on the picturesque edge of Blue Hill Bay. Cinematographer Cory Geryak makes good use of the views.
Living in the compound is a bedridden Olivia Stone (Cartwright, “Alien,” “Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” “The Birds”). Olivia is fitted with a nasal cannula and requires a caregiver to keep her alive. Her latest caregiver was an attractive nurse named Tracy (Kayleigh Ruller), who has suddenly left and apparently disappeared. The agency that sent Tracy sends another nurse named Dale (Madelyn Dundon), who is grateful for the work because her career has been threatened by something that happened on her watch recently. Dale arrives in her Jeep amid lovely aerial visuals of Blue Hill Bay a la “The Shining” to find that Tom Collard (Michael Steger), a neighbor and apparent single father with a moody, young daughter named Penny (Nicola Jeanette Silber), has a habit of checking in on Olivia.
In a scene reminiscent of Henry James’ “The Turn of the Screw,” Penny tells Dale that the house is haunted and that she has seen a ghost through one of the home’s many expansive windows. The enviable home is large with oil paintings and a piano. Olivia is a composer and conductor of renown. Her doctor has diagnosed her with “vascular dementia” and OCD. She cannot stand to have the trinkets on her bedside table, including a treasured mug given to her by her late husband, Albert, touched or moved. Dale’s bedroom is upstairs, where she discovers that Albert’s upstairs study is always locked. Uh-oh.
Olivia speaks of Albert as if he is alive and still has conversations with her. The agency does not send anyone to relieve Dale, who works around the clock and gets little sleep. A bedside screen in Dale’s room shows Olivia in her hospital bed. Bells and alarms alert Dale if Olivia’s oxygen supply has been interrupted or if she needs her heart or blood pressure tended to. Olivia reminds Dale (and us) that she is a “creature of habit” a few times. The screenplay lets us know that Dale’s right hand has been damaged and is too weak to grasp heavy objects. Hmm. A creepy, grocery delivery guy named Jacob (T.C. Carter) secretly takes pictures of Dale coming out of the shower.
“The Ruse” asks us to wonder what would have happened if Jane Eyre had worked as a caregiver for Norman Bates’ mother. Naturally, romantic interest Tom becomes a darker, more threatening presence.
One of the paintings on Olivia’s walls is askew. Dale’s boyfriend Ben (Drew Moerlein) breaks up with her over the phone, the wretch. Dale has a sister she hasn’t seen in years. Olivia keeps a big pile of cash for groceries in a desk drawer. The details add up as they should, but it’s unclear where all this is headed. Cartwright’s gleaming blue eyes and ability to make the audience feel her fear continue to cast their spell. But when someone accidentally bumps into the point of a kitchen knife in the dark, I was ready to check out of chez Blue Hill. Did I mention a sharp shard someone forgot to pick up off the floor? Is “The Ruse” a thriller or a board game in which pieces are moved by a roll of the dice? By the time we got to the reenactment of a crime at the end, I realized that “The Ruse” was on me.
‘The Ruse’
Rating: R for some violent content
Cast: Veronica Cartwright, Michael Steger, Madelyn Dundon
Director/writer: Stevan Mena
Running time: 1 Hour, 45 Minutes
Where to Watch: AMC Liberty Tree Mall, AMC Methuen 20, Regal Kingston, and other suburban theaters
Grade: C+
Boston Movie News 