Lure – Review
Lure arrives with a premise that feels instantly familiar and so, promising: six men, one enigmatic woman, an isolated ancestral estate, and a social gathering that gradually reveals itself as something far more sinister. It’s dating-show horror filtered through folk menace — The Bachelorette by way of Saw with a feeling Claudia Winkleman might pop in any minute – on paper, that’s not a bad hook at all.
This low budget film’s strongest asset is its central idea. The notion of romantic selection being literalised into a brutal annual ritual has thematic bite, and the early scenes do a decent job of leaning into unease rather than outright gore. There’s a sense of ritualistic inevitability hovering over the estate, and the film flirts with folk-horror imagery in a way that suggests something deeper beneath the surface.
Silvia Presente’s Islay anchors the film with a controlled, cool presence. She’s convincingly alluring without tipping into caricature, and there’s an unsettling stillness to her performance that works well in the quieter moments. Across the ensemble, performances are generally solid – no one is outright bad – but the script rarely gives the male contestants enough definition for their fates to land with much emotional weight. They’re differentiated more by circumstance than personality, which becomes a problem once the body count starts rising. I didn’t find myself caring if any of them survived and was more interested what the score was with Tom and his dad.
Where Lure falters is commitment. It can’t quite decide what kind of horror film it wants to be. At times it gestures toward folk horror, at others it veers into survival-game brutality, and occasionally it seems to want the satirical bite of social commentary – but it never fully embraces any one of these possibly due to budgetary constraint. The result is a tonal wobble that drains tension just when it should be tightening the screws.
Budgetary limitations are noticeable too. Some of the traps and restraints feel conspicuously lightweight, which undercuts the threat in scenes that rely heavily on physical danger. The gags wouldn’t stop them talking at all Joes is barely even in his mouth. I never could work out what was stopping them standing up and Islay using a gun was a poor choice (especially when she hands it to one of the boys). Horror thrives on belief, and when the mechanics look fragile, the illusion cracks. A few moments that should be shocking instead land as oddly muted. Visually it looks great. Audibly the mix is rough in places, with the music overpowering the voices, especially during the straight from Saw bathroom scene and beyond.
That said, Lure isn’t without atmosphere. The location work does a lot of heavy lifting, and there’s a creeping sense of isolation that lingers even when the pacing slackens. The film is at its best when it slows down and lets discomfort simmer rather than rushing toward the next ordeal.
Ultimately, Lure feels like a film with strong conceptual bones but uneven execution. There’s enough here to suggest what it could have been but it never quite gets there.
Genre fans will find moments to admire, and much to enjoy, but it’s unlikely to linger long after the credits roll.
On digital 2 February from Reel2Reel Films
