- Rating
CLOSE
Include Close with the growing number of recent female protagonist movies showcasing strong women, such as Wonder Woman, Ocean’s 8, Annihilation, Tomb Raider, Red Sparrow, and Mary Queen of Scots. Close may lead the women’s list since this movie is directed and co-written by a woman, Vicky Jewson. The film stars a woman, Noomi Rapace (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), co-stars women Sophie Nelisse & Indira Varma, and women Kate Bush & Candy Says perform all the music. There are men in the movie whose primary role is to be fodder for killing. The final tally is 19 men killed, 9 by women, a feel-good film for most women.
Sam Carlson (Noomi Rapace)
Close is a Netflix action thriller set briefly in Sudan, then moves to Casablanca, Morocco. The main character, Sam, is modeled after the most famous female bodyguard, Jacquie Davis (https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/badass-true-story-jacquie-davis-015800325.html), who was on set during the filming to ensure Sam’s actions are legitimate looking. I can’t tell if Sam’s actions are valid, but the action scenes are well done and hold your attention. The small amount of CGI used was not the greatest; there is a brief view of a fake-looking bombed-out city from a distance in one of the first scenes (only if you look closely), and the helicopter rides were fake-looking, filmed in a studio, but these were small insignificant parts.
From the beginning of the movie, the skill of the bodyguard Sam (Noomi Rapace) is apparent in a well-done scene where Sam protects two members of the Press Corp in Sudan, Africa. Noomi Rapace plays the part of a tough-ass, well-trained bodyguard. Ms. Rapace is the main reason to watch this film. After Sudan, there is a small insight into Sam’s life, which is revisited later in the movie.
© 2019 Jewson Film − All right reserved.
Sam then reluctantly takes a job as a Close Protection Officer (CPO) to protect 16-year-old Zoe Tanner (Sophie Nelisse), who is to inherit her recently deceased Dad’s shares in the Hassine mine in Morocco, much to the chagrin of her stepmom Rima Hassine (Indira Varma), the CEO of those mines. With stepmom threatening to appeal the will, plotting in the background, and trying to make a deal at the mine, someone tries to kidnap Sophie from the safehouse in Morrocco. So begins about an hour of Sam & Zoe running and driving through the streets of Casablanca, fighting off and killing men from various groups (police, thugs), fending off the repeated attempts to kidnap Zoe for ransom. This part of the movie is well done, flows smoothly, and contains an original scene in the hold of a fishing vessel that is unique. The resolution at the end comes quickly, and it isn’t easy to see how all the parts are related, why they are related, and who is responsible for what, but it all ends happily, and you can figure out enough to make sense of the ending.
Zoe Tanner (Sophia Nelisse)
Movie Details
