''A Lonely Place to Die'' is a 2011 British

action thriller film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...

directed by

Julian Gilbey Julian Gilbey is a British film director, editor and screenwriter. He is known for his work on horror films, also appearing in these as the actor, and performing many other roles on many of those movies. Biography Gilbey began his movie caree ...

and based on a screenplay from Julian and Will Gilbey. It stars

Melissa George Melissa George (born 6 August 1976) is an Australian actress and entrepreneur. A former national artistic rollerskating champion and model, George began her acting career playing Angel Parrish in the Australian soap opera Home and Away (1993– ...

Ed Speleers Edward John Speleers (born 7 April 1988) is an English actor and producer. He is best known for playing the title role in the 2006 film ''Eragon'', the antagonist character Stephen Bonnet in the TV series '' Outlander'', as well as James "Jimmy" ...

Karel Roden Karel Roden (born 18 May 1962) is a Czech actor, popularly known for his roles in ''Hellboy'' and ''The Bourne Supremacy'', and his voice work in '' Grand Theft Auto IV''. Life and career Roden followed his father and grandfather into acting. ...

Eamonn Walker Eamonn Roderique Walker (born 12 June 1962) is an English film, television, and theatre actor. In the United States he is known for playing Kareem Saïd in the HBO television series '' Oz'', for which he won a CableACE Award, and (since 2012) ...

Sean Harris Sean Harris (born 1965/1966) is an English actor and writer. He played Ian Curtis in ''24 Hour Party People'' (2002), Micheletto Corella in '' The Borgias'' (2011–2013), Fifield in ''Prometheus'' (2012), Solomon Lane in '' Mission: Impossib ...

and

Kate Magowan Katie Victoria "Kate" Magowan (born 1 June 1975) is an English actress and producer. She has been in film, theatre, television and radio productions. Her best known role is Princess Una in the 2007 feature film ''Stardust''. She is married to a ...

Plot

Mountaineers Alison, Ed and Rob meet up with friends Jenny and Alex for a climbing and hiking trip in the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland S ...

. Whilst taking a break for lunch, they discover Anna, a young girl buried alive in a small chamber in the wilderness. They are unable to communicate with her as she speaks no English, with Ed guessing she might be Croatian. Deciding they need to get her to safety, Alison and Rob elect to take a shortcut to the nearest village to fetch help, but the route involves having to

abseil Abseiling ( ; ), also known as rappelling ( ; ), is the controlled descent of a steep slope, such as a rock face, by moving down a rope. When abseiling the person descending controls their own movement down the rope, in contrast to low ...

down a high cliff named "Devils Drop". During their descent, Rob's rope apparently breaks, causing him to fall to his death. Alison is pelted with falling debris as she tumultuously reaches the bottom, whereupon she discovers Rob's rope was cut. Seeing a figure move away from the top of the cliff, it becomes clear the people who imprisoned Anna are trying to kill them. After killing Rob and the unsuccessful attempt on Alison, Anna's kidnappers Mr. Kidd and Mr. Mcrae murder two nearby

poachers Poaching has been defined as the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights. Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set a ...

and take their rifles, using them to open fire as Alison regroups with the others. During the attack Jenny is shot and killed, and Anna almost drowns after being pulled into river rapids, where she is eventually rescued by Alison. Alex distracts the two men by running in the opposite direction, holding a backpack wrapped in blankets that they mistake for Anna. Deciding to "follow the money", the two men give chase and gun him down, allowing Alison, Anna and Ed to escape the wilderness and reach the nearby town of Annan Mor. Meanwhile,

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

n mobster Darko, accompanied by British mercenaries Andy and Chris, travels to the area to negotiate a ransom exchange with Mr. Kidd and Mr. Mcrae on behalf of his employer. Having been unable to recapture Anna, Mr. Kidd attempts to bluff his way through the negotiation with Darko, recalling a previous kidnapping when he murdered a young boy in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

when his parents tried to avoid paying. Before Alison, Ed and Anna can be transported to Inverness by the police, they are tracked down by Mcrae, who kills the officers before pursuing them through the town, which is in the middle of hosting its

Beltane Beltane () is the Gaelic May Day festival. Commonly observed on the first of May, the festival falls midway between the spring equinox and summer solstice in the northern hemisphere. The festival name is synonymous with the month marking the ...

festival. As the surviving mountaineers flee, Chris shoots Ed when he mistakes him for one of the kidnappers and is in turn shot by Mr. Mcrae, but manages to inform Darko that the kidnappers no longer have Anna before dying. After finishing off Ed, Mr. Mcrae chases Alison and Anna into a local house, which catches fire as he and Alison struggle. The fight eventually ends with Alison killing him by pushing him out of a window. She then manages to save Anna from the burning building before being rescued by firefighters. She is then transported to the hospital in an ambulance as Anna remains by her side. Mr. Kidd nearly escapes with the ransom money, but is captured by Andy and brought before Mr. Rakovic, a Serbian war criminal who is Darko's boss and Anna's father. Rakovic has him tortured and buried alive in the woods for the kidnapping. Andy is paid the full fee for his services plus the car, with Rakovic remarking that he is in his debt.

Cast

as Alison *

as Ed * Alec Newman as Rob *

as Jenny * Garry Sweeney as Alex *Holly Boyd as Anna Rakovic *

as Mr. Kidd, one of Anna's kidnappers *

Stephen McCole Stephen McCole is a Scottish actor. He is best known for starring in the dark comedy series ''High Times'',Paul English"High Times duo Stephen and Paul McCole find fame in unlikely places" '' The Daily Record'', 28 June 2008. Retrieved 1 June 20 ...

as Mr. Mcrae, another of Anna's kidnappers *

as Darko, an associate of Mr. Rakovic *

as Andy, a mercenary hired by Rakovic * Paul Anderson as Chris, another mercenary hired by Rakovic *Matthew Zajac as Mr. Rakovic, a Serbian war criminal and Anna's father

Production

Shooting began on 13 May 2010 in Scotland under the working title ''The Grave at Angel's Peak''.

shot the film from the screenplay "The Long Weekend" by Will Gilbey. The film is produced by Carnaby International, the studio behind ''

Doghouse A doghouse, also known as a kennel, is an outbuilding to provide shelter for a dog from various weather conditions. Background Humans and domesticated dogs have been companions for more than 15,000 years, beginning with the wolf and hunter– ...

''.

Franka Potente Franka Potente (; born 22 July 1974) is a German actress. She first appeared in the comedy film '' After Five in the Forest Primeval'' (1995), for which she won a Bavarian Film Award for Best Young Actress. Her breakthrough came in 1998, when sh ...

was originally cast for the role as Alison and was later replaced by

. The film was shot at various locations in Scotland, including

Glen Coe Glen Coe ( gd, Gleann Comhann ) is a glen of volcanic origins, in the Highlands of Scotland. It lies in the north of the county of Argyll, close to the border with the historic province of Lochaber, within the modern council area of Highland ...

Glen Etive Glen Etive ( gd, Gleann Èite) is a glen in the Highlands of Scotland. The River Etive ( gd, Abhainn Èite) rises on the peaks surrounding Rannoch Moor, with several tributary streams coming together at the Kings House Hotel, at the head o ...

, Strathconon,

Dingwall Dingwall ( sco, Dingwal, gd, Inbhir Pheofharain ) is a town and a royal burgh in the Highland council area of Scotland. It has a population of 5,491. It was an east-coast harbour that now lies inland. Dingwall Castle was once the biggest cas ...

and

Corrieshalloch Gorge Corrieshalloch Gorge (Scottish Gaelic: Coire Shalach, meaning ''unattractive corrie'') is a gorge situated about 20 km south of Ullapool, close to the junction of the A832 and A835 roads near Braemore in the Scottish Highlands. The gorge ...

. In April 2011, the film had its world premiere at the ActionFest film festival in Asheville, North Carolina USA, where it was awarded 'Best Film' and 'Best Director'. After the Cannes film market in May 2011, Kaleidoscope Entertainment picked up the UK rights to release the film. The film had its UK premiere on 29 August 2011, where it was the closing film of Frightfest. It was released in UK cinemas shortly thereafter on 7 September. It was released in North America in November 2011, following a screening at the

Toronto After Dark Film Festival Toronto After Dark Film Festival is a showcase of horror, sci-fi, action and cult cinema held annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The festival premieres a diverse selection of feature-length and short-films from around the world including n ...

on 24 October 2011.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film has an approval rating of 75% based on 32 reviews, with an average rating of 5.9/10.A Lonely Place to Die (2011)
"

References

External links

*
Twitchfilm reviews A Lonely Place To Die
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lonely Place To Die 2011 films 2011 action thriller films 2011 horror films 2011 crime thriller films 2011 horror thriller films British action thriller films British crime thriller films British horror thriller films Films about child abduction Films directed by Julian Gilbey Films set in Scotland Films shot in Scotland Mountaineering films Crime horror films British survival films 2010s survival films Films about the Serbian Mafia 2010s English-language films 2010s British films