Ben (Edward Holcroft) and Charlotte (Tamara Lawrance) have been together for a year and a half, and are preparing to move from the UK to Australia to start the next chapter of their lives—much to the chagrin of Ben’s overprotective mother Margaret (Fiona Shaw), who is eager for her son to continue the family’s legacy that has been going for nine generations. When Charlotte discovers she’s pregnant, she’s not sure she wants to keep the baby, due to the mental history with her own mother. However, Ben is excited to be a father, and his mother immediately tries to plan the couple’s wedding so they can be married before Charlotte starts to show, because what would her friends think?! But tragedy strikes, and Charlotte collapses at the hospital, waking up in Ben’s family’s home.

The family doctor, Dr. Richards (Anton Lesser), has ordered bed rest. Margaret lives in a giant, though somewhat rundown manor house with Thomas (Jack Lowden), the son of the man she married after Ben’s father died of cancer. It’s an odd relationship—she treats Thomas more like her manservant than a stepson. Margaret and Thomas look after Charlotte, and are both eager to make sure the baby arrives—Margaret for a do-over for the mistakes she made with Ben, and Thomas for his own chance at a family. However, Charlotte constantly feels dizzy, is having crazy dreams involving birds, and often wakes up confused and disoriented, with no memory of what happened the night before. She starts to suspect something sinister is going on, slowly realizing that she has become a prisoner in this home. Margaret and Thomas are keeping her trapped, insisting that she stay in bed, locking the doors and gates so that she cannot leave, and breaking her phone so that she cannot contact anyone. At the same time, they also insist that nothing is wrong, which causes Charlotte to doubt herself and wonder if she is going crazy like her mother. Charlotte is determined to get out of this house and escape, but the family isn’t going to let her go that easily.

Kindred is a psychological thriller about this one woman’s desperate attempt to escape both the literal prison she finds herself in, as well as the stigma of her past. As her captors play mental mind games on her, Charlotte must also figure out a way to turn the tables on them and escape. Tamara Lawrance gives a strong performance in her first leading role, showing the complex feelings, stress and anxiety behind this character. You really get the sense of the emotional and mental turmoil Charlotte is experiencing. Also amazing (as always) is Fiona Shaw as this psychotic mother who will stop at nothing to get what she wants. It is no surprise that Margaret’s son wanted to move to Australia to get away from her. The one question is why Thomas still sticks around. Jack Lowden plays this nice balance between friendly and creepy with Jack—you never quite know what’s up with him.

The film does a nice job of building the tension and throwing in some twists. I was often reminded of Misery—just when it looks like Charlotte has a plan or found a way to escape, things don’t go quite as planned, taking an unfortunate turn. I also loved the way the filmmakers chose to end the film. Several of these recent IFC releases (Hunter Hunter is another one) take very unexpected turns at the end, going against audience expectations.

Shout! Factory’s Blu-ray release looks quite good, with a solid, clean, and detailed picture that captures the stately home and surroundings quite beautifully. I didn’t really notice any use of the surround channel in the audio track, but the dialogue is clear throughout, and the score is presented nicely. The Blu-ray disc comes packed in a standard Blu-ray keepcase with a carboard slipcover. The insert is reversible, with the alternate look shown below. The only bonus features are the theatrical trailer and an audio commentary with the co-writer/director. There is no digital copy included.

What’s Included:

Film: (1:40:43)

• 1080p / Widescreen 2.39:1
• Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio Surround, English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio Stereo, English Audio Descriptive Track
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish

Extras:

• Commentary by Joe Marcantonio (1:40:43)
  The co-writer/director of the film provides a discussion of the film, pointing out some Easter eggs and sharing some interesting some behind-the-scenes stories about the production. He discussed how they used handheld cameras and drones outside the house, and more locked-up shots inside the house to help add to that feeling of being trapped. He also talks about the casting of the film, the house used for the set, the score, some of the scenes that were cut or moved around, and more. The director mentioned that the film gets comparisons to Get Out and Rosemary’s Baby. Sometimes the director gets a bit lost in re-watching the movie and forgets to talk. He also has a very soft, calm way of talking, but overall I found the commentary track to be entertaining and informative.
• Trailer (2:15)

Final Thoughts:

Kindred is a solid psychological thriller, that builds the tension nicely and has some entertaining twists and turns. The actors do an excellent job of portraying the emotions of these characters and getting the audience invested in them. Shout! Factory’s Blu-ray release features a solid presentation and includes an audio commentary from the co-writer/director. The film/release comes recommended.