review for Closure on AllMovie

A shocking revenge thriller that starts off deceptively simple before burrowing into the viewer with brutal efficiency, Closure summons memories of Straw Dogs and Roshomon as it winds through the psyche of the damaged protagonists to show how a simple act of love could spiral into a tragic cycle of violence. Initially brought together by chance, a fresh faced security camera instillation technician and a high powered female executive are fused together by fate after they're left broken and violated in a terrifying encounter on an English countryside road. As evidenced by his previous documentaries focusing on the civil war in Kosovo and the two and a half day 2002 siege on a Russian theater by Chechen Special Purpose Islamic Regiment separatists, director/screenwriter Dan Reed is no stranger to the savagery of man, and his familiarity with the darker aspects of human nature shine through as traumatized rape victim Alice becomes consumed from within by her insatiable hunger for revenge. Of course she's never alone in her quest since Adam is constantly by her side - joint and liquor bottle gripped firmly in clenched fists - yet as key revelations cause character dynamics to shift while the film careens towards one of the most genuinely harrowing climaxes in recent memory, stars Gillian Anderson and Danny Dyer remain convincing throughout. Likewise, a crucial scene in which a startling revelation offers an entirely new perspective on the events find co-star Anthony Calf nearly stealing the entire show in just a scant few minutes of screen time; His role may be the most thankless, but the powerful impression he makes serves as the core of the film and without such remarkable talent at the epicenter the whole endeavor would have likely fallen apart. Reed's direction is smart and stylish throughout, and though his screenplay is so single minded in keeping up he momentum of the story that some viewers may wish he had taken the time to elaborate during a few key scenes (the film clocks in at a remarkably lean eighty minutes), in the era where a vast majority of filmmakers seem intent on overindulging it's something of a pleasant surprise to occasionally be left wanting more. A techno-flavored score by composer Ilan Eshkery lends the proceedings a remarkably slick finish, and proves just one of many minor details that help to make this punchy little indie a dirty diamond in the rough.