Embedded

2016

Johnny's comments:

Embedded is an Australian two-hand dialogue-driven power drama where jaded Australian journalist Frank (Nick Barkla) and British academic Madeline (Laura Gordon) spend the night together, most of the time in his hotel room fucking and talking. Frank has just come back from Mali where he followed some unclassified American soldiers and saw some horrible things (maybe he saw too much), but he is incredibly cagey about all of it. Not that Madeline is more forthcoming. She is clearly more than just an academic and seems to know an awful lot about Frank despite meeting for the first time. As the sex and talk becomes more intense, Frank becomes more paranoid about everything and violent towards Madeline. What is it that Frank is afraid of and what exactly does Madeline want with Frank?

Uneven movie that changes its tone wildly from one scene to the next, not helped by having an unnecessary non-linear narrative. Barkla and Gordon, who both starred in the "junkies in love" drama Em4Jay (I'm not 100% on this but I think they're a couple in real life), work well together and get the most out of script despite its limitations. But there's nothing earth-shattering here, the motives of both characters are too vague, and the twist doesn't come as a surprise so much as a way to end the movie.

Laura Gordon 1080hd film clips (collages below)