Macabre…ish Review: Hippopotamus

Hippopotamus, 2018/ 1 hr 17 min

A woman wakes up on the floor, in a room with little more than a toilet, a sink and a chair. She's injured and has no memory. The man standing in front of her tells her that she will not be leaving the room until she falls in love with him. He also tells her, along with her name and other personal info, that he has severed her ligaments and escape is impossible. He gives her three pills, two for pain and one contraceptive. He will take care of her and anything she needs, he will provide. And he warns her not to try to escape or move on her own, if she ever wants to walk again.

As time goes on, he tells her more details about herself and tries to appeal to all of her senses in order to jog her memory. He helps her in her recovery, brings her food everyday and helps her use the toilet. And he watches her.

After she falls asleep in the evenings he cleans her room and plays strange recordings over a speaker. And in the morning he introduces himself, his name is Thomas and he tells her, her name, Ruby. And while he takes care of her and tries to build familiarity and rapport, she is trying to understand what is happening. And after a while, Ruby, finds that someone has left her warnings and little hints in a book. And more importantly, she’s starting to remember the past.

Aside from the apparent hostage situation, Thomas seems like he really cares about Ruby and really wants her to recover. But every time he seems like an ok guy, Ruby gets a disturbing hint that emotionally derails her. And so as he’s trying to get closer, she pulls away. One night, they have dinner together and a confrontation that ends with him bleeding and crying.

She heeds the warnings in her book though, no matter how it seems, she cannot trust him. Ruby checks her wounds and they are not what they seem. Little by little her memory returns and some of those memories are disturbing. When she’s alone, she plots and takes care of herself, when he’s around, she performs. Meanwhile, Tom tries to coax her memory back with her favorite foods, art and dancing etc. and it is working. And it is as confusing for her, as it is exciting, for him.

Ruby eventually does remember her original trauma that caused her memory loss, Thomas’ involvement and how she came to be in this predicament.

But unfortunately for both of them, that’s not the end of the story, the story just changes. And the truth of this story is somehow sadder and worse than I imagined, for both of them. This movie is devastating.

This indie film is the debut of Edward Palmer. This is an outstanding first feature film and while this is not a horror film, this story is a nightmare. It is very well done, well paced and he even paid attention to the details— the narration, lighting, coloring and composition etc. And I have to say, the actor choices for Ruby (Ingvild Deila) and Thomas (Stuart Mortimer) were as perfect as you could get. I cannot wait to see Edward’s next film.

Anyways, support indie filmmakers and watch their films!