An intrinsic character piece featuring stellar performances and unique setting, Burn marks the assured debut of writer and director Mike Gan who delivers a dark, thrilling, and at times uncomfortable foray into an unstable mind.
Cinema has long delved into many a fragile mind. Whether murderous or curious, psychotic or savant, the pantheon of characters suffering from mental illness is strong. Burn offers a unique new addition to the fold: Melinda. Played by Australian actor Tilda Cobham-Hervey, Melinda dutifully works at a gas station, doing the jobs that her smug co-worker Sheila (Suki Waterhouse) won’t do. Although not mentioned, there is a definite psychological imbalance at play here. Her interactions with co-workers and customers, although well intentioned, feels a little off. Self-mutilation is also practiced, with searing of the flesh her preferred method.
Cobham-Hervey is terrific in a role that will make many viewers stand up and take notice. The Australian actor (also exceptional in Hotel Mumbai) inhabits Melinda with an eccentric boldness that often heads her down the wrong path, as social awkwardness blends with a quiet desperation to be someone else, somewhere else.
That situation seemingly arrives in the form of Billy, a temperamental criminal played by Josh Hutcherson with a sinister streak not quite seen before from the teen heartthrob. Melinda’s fantasy of a Bonnie & Clyde situation quickly turns into a bloody mess, with one mistake after another resulting in a stand-off situation where dark comedy and uncomfortable moments weave in and out. Set within the one location of a gas station, characters come and go as the stakes escalate to fever pitch.
Writer and director Mike Gan (in his feature film debut) delivers a film steady in pace and rich in character. With a cast of talented young actors at his charge, he guides them to career best (so far) turns that can often deal with the queasy. One sequence in particular is especially uncomfortable to watch, to the point that it should have perhaps been given the cut, as it just does not work when compared to the whole. Let’s chalk that up to first time director lessons.
A unique, driving soundtrack by Ceiri Torjussen (All Creatures Here Below) adds extra dimension to a character driven thriller that simmers to boiling point, with Burn sure to leave its mark.