If There's a Hell Below (2016) - Nathan Williams

Nathan Williams' If There's A Hell Below is a damn near masterclass in atmosphere and tension, being a film that shows little interest in spelling things out for the viewer, instead offering a narrative of endless intrigue, claustrophobia, and a foreboding sense of dread.  The story of If There's A Hell Below is rather simple, centered around the meeting between Abe, an ambitious young journalist, and Debra, a mysterious woman who claims to work in national security.  Insisting on meeting Abe in the desolate fields of the American Midwest, Debra indicates she has a serious revelation that needs to be leaked, offering no more details to Abe, or the viewer for that matter, as to what exactly is going on.  Mystery and intrigue are a major ally of If There's A Hell Below, as the film relies heavily on preconceived narrative assumptions to build its tension early on, namedropping terms such as "Snowden" in a way that gives the viewer no real information, but helps contextualize the situation, only fueling the imagination of the viewer as to what exactly is going on.  The specifics don't matter, and they are deliberately avoided by the filmmaker, as Nathan Williams' focuses instead the circumstances of the situation these two characters find themselves in, a potentially life-and-death situation with zero ability to even comprehend whether they are safe and not.  These characters are being watched, and we the viewer don't know how, don't know why, but we know they are being pursued by someone, with the vagueness letting the viewers imagination take hold.  The setting is wide open, set in the vast plains of the American Midwest, yet the whole film feels incredible claustrophobic, with the cinematography meticulously juxtaposing the vastness of the setting with tight compositions such as pov-style dash cams from inside Abe and Debra's vehicle, evoking a great sense of uncertainty and helplessness, one in which us as the audience feels completely unable to comprehend the danger coming, yet we know it is there.  If There's A Hell Below cultivates an environment of uncertainty through both dialogue and atmosphere, one where the viewer is just as in the dark as Abe, the idealistic journalist, forced to imagine the worst as we witness the escalation of the pursuit of these characters.  If There's A Hell Below may be irritatingly vague to some viewers who want more explained, but what Nathan Williams and company have created with this film is a powerful study of helplessness and foreboding dread, a film that understands how less can be so much more in creating its story of two characters who are being pursued by nearly mysterious forces we simply can't comprehend.

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