Extortion | Film review - White People in Peril in the Caribbean

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An idyllic Caribbean holiday for Eion Bailey’s American heart surgeon’s and his wife and six-year-old son turns into a nightmare after their rented boat breaks down, stranding them on a remote island. And Barkhad Abdi’s local fisherman, as the title Extortion suggests, isn’t exactly the saviour they wish for.

Accept the foolhardy rashness of Bailey’s hero, some howling coincidences and even more improbable plot twists, and writer-director Phil Volken’s low-budget movie white-people-in-peril thriller does become increasingly nerve-wracking as it goes on.

Certificate 15. Runtime 105 mins. Director Phil Volken

Extortion debuts on Sky Cinema Premiere on Thursday 5 October.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cr_T1pGT8lw

A film critic for over 25 years, Jason admits the job can occasionally be glamorous – sitting on a film festival jury in Portugal; hanging out with Baz Luhrmann at the Chateau Marmont; chatting with Sigourney Weaver about The Archers – but he mostly spends his time in darkened rooms watching films. He’s also written theatre and opera reviews, two guide books on Rome, and competed in a race for Yachting World, whose great wheeze it was to send a seasick film critic to write about his time on the ocean waves. But Jason is happiest on dry land with a classic screwball comedy or Hitchcock thriller.