Enduring Love (2004)

Joe (Daniel Craig) and his girlfriend Claire (Samantha Morton) are in an open field in the countryside enjoying a picnic, when out of the blue a hot air balloon appears, hits the ground tipping out the pilot and ascends once more leaving a young boy stranded in the basket. Joe and a few other bystanders immediately race after the balloon, each of them grabbing a trailing rope as the balloon hurtles upwards, before one by one letting go; except for one man who holds on before falling to his death whilst the others look on helpless.

The opening sequence of Roger Michell's British drama is very impressive; with no score to guide us, the horror show that unfolds feels extremely raw and is effectively shot. What follows is a tale of obsession, the film taking a left field turn as it focuses on Joe being stalked by Jed (Rhys Ifans),one of the other men involved in attempting to save the young boy.

What originally begins as Joe's bafflement at Jed's behaviour turns more sinister when Jed won't let things lie, driving Joe into a state of frustration, anger, and eventually terror.

Enduring Love shares plenty of similarities with Adrian Lyne's Fatal Attraction, and although not as accomplished as Lyne's film it's a fairly effective chiller, much lower key and less melodramatic than Glenn Close's bunny boiling antics and on a slimmer scale, increasing its efficacy.

The central performances (Craig, Morton and Ifans) are all top drawer as all three-character arcs develop, adding to Michell's film and proving that he was astute across opposing genres having been behind the camera for Notting Hill (1997) which also drew a very opposing performance from Ifans. 7.0/10