The Oak Room

Cliché? Maybe on my part, but not when it comes to The Oak Room, a taut exercise in story-weaving and twists turned on their heads.

As the tales gather weight like snow on a roof, and intriguing correspondences accumulate, the impressive structuring tells.

Back and forth The Oak Room goes, without ever building the tension it ostensibly seeks. Instead, it meanders from tale to tale, and the writing isn't sharp or specific enough to sustain this kind of complex framework.

"A man walks into a bar" may be the classic set-up to a gag, but this time, the punchline will leave you reeling.

The original script by Peter Genoway is a trip in its own right.

The Oak Room is a small little thriller that demonstrates the potent power of storytelling. For those interested in something far more introspective that plays like an unsettling tale told around a campfire, it's is an engaging narrative exercise.

The film is a must watch for any true fans of thrillers. It features different stories, diverse narratives, and surprising plot twists. Calahan accentuates the art of storytelling and its complexity and value of a good story.

The film's themes are relatively thin, but there's a nice depth to the connections between these men.

There is something hypnotic in the way the night progresses, and in the way phrases and ideas repeat across different decades and different tales.

Not technically much of a film, but a terrific and dark piece of storytelling by Peter Genoway that could be told around a campfire, performed onstage or embellished onscreen ("Goose the truth!" as Peter Outerbridge's character Paul describes it).