Severance

Posted on February 14, 2010
Filed Under Psychos | Leave a Comment

Office team building taken to the extreme! Seven colleagues from the British division of Palisades Defence, an international weapons manufacturer, are on a work trip through Europe. As a break from their promotional duties, they’re enjoying a weekend in a luxury lodge where they take part in those naff team-building exercises. When they find the road blocked by a tree, their Hungarian bus driver refuses to take an alternative route through the forest. Insisting it’s not far, manager Richard (McInnery) leads the group off on foot. Almost immediately Steve (Dyer) starts muttering, “There’s someone in the woods.” Of course, everyone ignores him because he’s a stoner.

Anyone who’s ever been on a team-building expedition (“I can’t spell success without ‘u’ ”) will cringe/ laugh as Tim McInnerny’s idiot boss frogmarches his office geek (Andy Nyman), graduate posho (nostril-flaring Toby Stephens), hot fox (24’s Laura Harris), right-on bore (Claudie Blakley), sweet square (Babou Ceesay) and cheeky-chappie layabout (Dyer) off to Hungary for a weekend of outdoor activities. Broad-stroked backstories ensue, along with plenty of gags – both visual and verbal, clever and (gleefully) stupid – before Creep writer/director Chris Smith gets down to the blood-letting.

Starting to see a trend in the sort of movies we like and don’t like? This one gets the thumbs up from me!

YEAR: 2006
STARS: Danny Dyer | Laura Harris