For Hannah (2022) Film Review
In the heart of the very small thriller For Hannah, there is something interesting. You don’t have to do much as a viewer to understand what it is and what it’s sparked from. Unfortunately its effect on the film is hard to miss. The best thing about the film doesn’t actually help it at all. When credits roll, perhaps you’ll feel the inconsistency of the movie. Nevertheless, the story will stay with you on some unconscious level. In the end, that’s all that matters.
In For Hannah a small town is awakened due to a tragedy. A bank has been robbed and set on fire. Only ruins remain and people are in a stupor. Things like that don’t happen in this snowy, yet cozy town.
A man is on the run. Perhaps he’s the culprit of the arson. Perhaps not. When he arrives at the home of a couple, he will face the dark reality of some unrevealed secrets. He takes them as hostages, but the situation is far from traditional and ideal. Add to the formula, a pair of law enforcement agents that aren’t in tune with each other, and you’ll get a slow burn thriller that hits the right targets and misses some.
This is a film that comes from an excess of inspiration and the lack of control that sometimes weakens independent films. You can tell this from a distance. It’s a homage. A tribute to films we have seen in the past, with scripts written by talented writers who where ingrained with the setting as well as some moral dilemma that was always spoken about in a third act.
For Hannah does the same. Its conclusion is long and it works well. Sadly, the film takes too much time to arrive there, and viewers have to deal first with some comedy that isn’t funny, characters that are far from likable, and a romantic union that doesn’t work at all. Too many tests and trials that make For Hannah an experiment that’s obviously trying too hard to fit into an effective genre model.
Yet so much heart and passion can’t go unnoticed. This isn’t a bad film. Far from it. It just insists on using unnecessary elements for the story and the main characters to work. When For Hannah is a depiction of a very small conflict taking place in a house with too many secrets, it’s actually compelling. The story naturally flows in the direction of a predictable thriller, and then it shocks you to the core with an inexplicable last event.
When I say For Hannah is an experiment it also speaks on some controversial decisions by the screenwriters. That last dramatic turning point was unexpected, and I still don’t know if it works or not. Maybe it just isn’t my place to question something I can’t really understand. I’d rather let the writers tell you that. If it serves a beautiful last shot in the snow, then OK. If justice arrives in a bizarre way, then why not?
Do yourself a favor. Give independent genre films a chance to blow your mind. Thrillers are perhaps everyone’s favorite genre. And sometimes they work as any regular big studio film would. For Hannah doesn’t aim to be everyone’s cup of tea. However, wouldn’t that be a boring iteration of something you saw before?
