The Glass Man

First screened at FrightFest all the way back in 2011, Cristian Solimeno’s The Glass Man is finally getting a UK release this December. Unfortunately though, this awkward psychological thriller is not worth the nine-year wait.

The plot follows Martin (Ghost Stories’ Andy Nyman), a spineless businessman who has a habit of putting his foot in his mouth. Fired from his job while his wife (horror icon Neve Campbell) becomes convinced that he’s cheating on her thanks to a completely innocent but nevertheless suspicious voicemail, Martin is about to hit rock bottom. However, when a gruff cockney moneylender named Pecco (James Cosmo) shows up at his door in the middle of the night he’s offered a choice: lose everything he has to pay off his debts or join his visitor as an accomplice. The protagonist (naturally) chooses the latter. But as he joins his new friend, it becomes apparent that not everything is as it seems.

Having these three impressive actors on screen together in a film with such a premise should have been the recipe for a joyous ride into madness. Cosmo and Nyman do give their roles everything they have. The former is an intimidating presence whose deafening shouts command attention while the latter is the weaselly runt utterly out of his depth. Sadly, Campbell is given little to do. Where the movie falters is that these two characters form no connection for viewers to latch onto. They’re just going through the motions, no matter how absurd the evening’s circumstances become.

Poor chemistry isn’t the only problem audiences will find difficult to contend with here either. For a feature that presents itself as a blend between psychological horror and dark comedy, the experience is neither suspenseful nor amusing. Rather, the tone is forever flip-flopping between edgy character study and awkward comedy. As the plot hurtles forward and a twist that was obvious from a mile away enters the fray, events only become increasingly ludicrous to the point that it becomes difficult to tell whether or not the director was being intentional.

A film that fails to live up to the names of its central cast, The Glass Man shatters on impact.

Andy Murray

The Glass Man is released digitally on demand on 7^th December 2020.

Watch the trailer for The Glass Man here: