EIFF' 18 Review - Calibre (2018)

Calibre is the debut from writer and director Matt Palmer, best known for a number of horror shorts. It has been showing at the EIFF prior to a Netflix release this Friday (29th June), so it will be available to watch soon! The film is a tense thriller set in the Scottish Highlands, a backwoods affair which may seem a tired genre. Everything is fresh in Calibre, however, from the characters to the pacing and even the occasional trope. When two lads head off on a celebratory hunting trip, things inevitably go awry and descend into conflict with suspicious locals. It sounds standard, but Palmer crafts his tale richly, avoiding cheap tricks and boring stereotypes, focusing instead on uneasy dialogue and the distress of his fully human characters.

Vaughn (Jack Lowden) is celebrating the news that he will soon become a father, though the last thing he wants to do is leave his pregnant fiancé, especially to go hunting with his single, reckless school pal Marcus (Martin McCann). Hunting is firmly the domain of cocky, finance worker Marcus who spouts gun facts learned from his father at the softly-spoken Vaughn who simply wants to get through the weekend without any trouble. Though both have drifted since their days at school, there is still great chemistry between the two. When they arrive at the neglected village that will be their hunting base for the weekend, they do as all lads do, and immediately head to the pub.

It’s your classic ‘outsiders not welcome’ pub as the townies are stared down by dour locals though village patriarch Logan (Tony Curran) makes an effort to welcome them. The following morning an eager Marcus forces the worse-for-wear Vaughn from his hungover bed to begin their deer stalking. In his sluggish state, however, Vaughn accidentally shoots a child setting off a chain of events that he and Marcus exacerbate, raising the stakes even higher. Soon, Vaughn and Marcus face a struggle of covering up their crime from the locals.

Calibre is incredibly well written, there’s no padding, it sticks you right into the action, building its characters along the way. These characters too, are genuine. There is no clear line between good and bad, all of the characters possess the capacity for both. Marcus for all of his arrogance and self-preservation is not a heartless man, nor are the locals demonised as backward Wickerman-esque pagans intent on destroying all outside influence. In actual fact, they are desperate to secure some sort of investment to ensure the survival of their village, a harsh reality faced by many tiny Highland locales.

In every scene, the tension is slowly eked up. Palmer chooses not to rush things and the pacing is at the heart of Calibre’s success. Even small scenes with very little dialogue are twisted into stress-inducing vehicles. Though the pace drops a little after the halfway mark, it’s amped back up for the finale which does justice to its characters. Lowden is brilliant as the guilt-ridden Vaughn and McCann offer Machiavellian shades in his portrayal of Marcus. The locals all give solid, if unspectacular performances though some of the Highlanders sound awfully Glaswegian, an oversight my Highland mother is always happy to point out. Márk Györi’s cinematography adds an eerie, translucent feel to the Highland landscape and impressively brings colour to the extended nighttime finale.

Calibre is a strong debut from Matt Palmer and certainly a calling card for Jack Lowden. The tension is formed methodically, creeping along at a pace that feels neither slow nor forced, until it reaches a frantic boiling point. The Highlands have never seemed so beautiful yet uninviting as they have here.