THE DESPERATE HOUR
★★
OUT NOW (SKY CINEMA) / CERT TBC / 84 MINS
DIRECTOR Philip Noyce
CAST Naomi Watts, Colton Gobbo, Andrew Chown
While out for a jog, widowed mother (Naomi Watts) discovers a mass shooting at her son’s school; like Locke or last year’s The Guilty, the resulting drama is played out — in real time — through phone conversations with unseen callers. A fine conceit on paper; in practice, it’s all a little flat. Director Phillip Noyce finds some tension in the panic of the unfolding events, but it is visually repetitive, spending most of the time with Watts running.