The Grey. Rated MA 15+ (strong violence, survival themes and coarse language). 117 minutes. Directed by Joe Carnahan. Screenplay by Joe Carnahan and Ian Mackenzie Jeffers.
Verdict: A gripping, psychological thriller about the fear of death. Not recommended for anyone about to fly somewhere on a plane.
Hostile, remote, snow-bound environments have contributed to a number of memorable films about fear. Alive (1993) is the cinematic adaptation of Piers Paul Read’s best-seller about the survivors of a plane crash in the Andes who reluctantly resort to cannibalism in order to survive their ordeal. John Carpenter’s terrific The Thing (1982) pits scientists working in an Antarctic research station against an alien lifeform to thrilling effect.
In The Grey (based on a short story by Mr Mackenzie Jeffers), a group of Alaskan-based oil drilling workers are returning home to Anchorage from their isolated base when their plane crashes in a blizzard. Lead by John Ottway (Liam Neeson), the small number of survivors must conquer not only the perilous conditions, but a ferociously territorial wolf pack into whose hunting territory the plane has crashed.
