Nicolai Schümann announces himself as a filmmaker to keep a keen eye on with his suffocating thriller, The Lonely Musketeer. It’s one hell of a debut with a powerhouse performance from Edward Hogg.

Rupert (Edward Hogg) wakes up in a sealed, windowless room with no recollection of how he got there. His only possession is his mobile phone. As he investigates his confinement, he is haunted by his past and gradually uncovers the horrifying reality he’s trapped in…

For a billionaire, Rupert has recently had a few kinks in his perfect life come up. His wife is seeking a divorce, and he isn’t as present as he should be in his young son’s life. After calling a variety of people, like one of his friends, Phillip (one of his missing musketeers), his assistant, and a friend who is now a police inspector, he is flummoxed as to why he is in this situation. Is it a kidnapping? Do these people want money? Making matters worse is a shock jock TV show host who discovers Rupert’s plight and decides to try and tease him for the views. Through these short conversations, Schümann’s film presents us with what happens when you are stuck in a position where all you do is confront yourself for your actions.

The Lonely Musketeer, from the outset, attempts to mislead its audience with some of its creative choices. By placing the vast majority of the film in monochrome, it allows us to feel detached from the proceedings, thankful it isn’t happening to us. Yet, because of Schümann’s other choices, we are reeled back into a predicament, creating a wonderfully horrible, claustrophobic feel. Cinematography-wise, that creativity comes to the fore again thanks to the work of Bruce Jackson. Instead of a roving camera, which would show the desperation and panic besetting Rupert, the camera remains static at all points within that room. Although the angles are unconventional, they work terrifically well and allow for an increase in that off-kilter and nightmare-esque feel. Add to this the decision to go with the 4:3 ratio, and we have a film that is purposefully and in a rather excellent fashion blocking us into that weird bunker with Rupert.

Although there are a plethora of other people who interact with Rupert via the phone, it is these four walls within which he is trapped that feel like a supporting character. We know every bit of that room, from the wall with the tiny opening at the top of the room and the hole that he has dug into to give him a step up to said gap. Which causes you to worry about how much Schümann can drag out of this concept. Seemingly, a lot happens within these 90 minutes; you are never bored with the situation Rupert is in, as Schümann allows his central theme of guilt to shine through.

Schümann’s writing also needs to be heavily commended for how well paced the script is. For a film with seemingly nothing going on, there is a hell of a lot happening. Each phone call moves the story forward, and each attempt from Rupert to escape means something. There is an intriguing build here that is that the film slowly reveals itself to the audience.

Edward Hogg is the key to The Lonely Musketeer, so much of the sucess of the film rests on his shoulders and damn if he doesn’t bear that weight with ease and give us a tremendous and unforgettable performance. He portrays a character we should not give one iota of care for – a billionaire who isn’t afraid to let people know how much better he is than all of us. Somehow, we are interested in him; we care enough to want him to escape this hell. What happens to him after the fact isn’t our concern. Hogg’s control of the character is sensational; he has created a character who thinks he is a few steps ahead and possesses a selfish charm that almost wins you over. There is a level of intelligence to his performance that you just do not see often.

I am sure this is a joke that most reviewers of a certain age will make, but The Lonely Musketeer shows us how fantastic a little phone the Nokia 3310 was. Just durable to high heaven with Rupert chucking that poor thing about and with a battery power of multiple days on one charge, it really is a wonder, and so by using that phone we also move away from the police or anyone being able to find Rupert because there was no GPS enabling on these Nokia’s.

The Lonely Mukseteer ticks all the right boxes, leaving us a tense and claustrophobic psychological thriller that does so much right that you become shocked to learn that this is Nicolai Schümann’s debut.

★★★★

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