Directed by Ciaran Foy and winner of the 2012 SXSW midnight audience award, Citadel follows Tommy (Aneurin Barnard), a young man living a simple life in a rundown apartment complex with his pregnant wife. One day on the way out of their apartment, Tommy’s wife is attacked by a gang of young vicious thugs leaving Tommy to raise his newborn daughter alone.
So disturbed by the events that unfolded, Tommy ends up developing an intense case off agoraphobia, a fear that prevents him from leaving his apartment most days and on other days it sets him into a panic while going to and from his intense therapy sessions.
When the same gang that terrorized his wife start hang around his new flat to hunt down his daughter, Tommy seeks the help of a foul mouthed and angry priest who understands who and what these evil beings are. The duo makes a deal and team up to try and protect/save Tommy’s daughter while also getting rid of these evil hoodlums for good.
Citadel was one of the movies that I had planned on seeing at SXSW before I had to bail on my trip, and so now that I finally had an opportunity to see the film, the result wasn’t necessarily what I thought it would be, which is both good and bad. SPOILER I expected Tommy to truly rise above his problems and find a way to face his enemies head on when trying to save his daughter. Instead, the guy seemed to get really lucky and potentially had only a single moment of confidence that may not carryover to the next day which isn’t reassuring for his daughter at all. END SPOILER
Though I expected more out of it, namely Tommy taking on these “kids” head-on in street brawl combat, Citadel was nonetheless an intriguing movie. I was always curious to see where it would go emotionally and how our lead, Tommy, would develop as a character and how we would cope with his internal fear of dealing with society and the important responsibility of protecting his daughter. It turns out he’s weaker than we all thought he could possibly be which makes for a more interesting yet also very frustrating character to deal with. Aneurin Barnard, who plays Tommy, does a great job of displaying what
an extreme case of agoraphobia looks like. He does a wonderful job of displaying his emotional dilemma when it comes to dealing with his fear and also trying to turn on his parental instincts of protection.
My main issue with the film is that I know they’re elements to truth to the actual creation of the story but the idea of using demonic, supernatural looking thugs that track people down mostly by fear doesn’t sit well with me. By the end, it seems as if these are random acts of violence that simply circle around infants but it never really becomes clear why they attack, especially if you aren’t afraid of them. It all seems a little preposterous at times which really detracts from the overarching narrative.
Citadel proves to be a very creepy film that manages to keep your attention but leaves you with a few important questions when the credits roll around. I thought the movie was decent but what happaned didn’t all make sense to me and I can’t tell if this movie was made with a message in mind or more for entertainment purposes. This might be because I’m looking at the picture from a realistic point of view when I should be looking at it from a fantastical standpoint with various parts of the film being metaphors for something. Anyway, Citadel
Rating: Leaves the audience guessing what kind of movie it is and if it should be taken seriously (5.8/10)
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