The Desperate Hour

Name: The Desperate Hour
Genre: Thriller
Released: February 25, 2022
Duration: 84 min
Rating: 35
Cast: Colton Gobbo, Naomi Watts, Sierra Maltby

2022

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Generally unfavorable reviews based on 24 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally unfavorable reviews based on 4 Ratings

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2.5

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2.5	User Score Generally unfavorable reviews based on 4 Ratings

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The Desperate Hour

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Movie Details & Credits

Vertical Entertainment | Release Date: February 25, 2022 | PG-13

Starring: Colton Gobbo, Naomi Watts, Sierra Maltby

Summary: Recently widowed mother Amy Carr (Naomi Watts) is doing her best to restore normalcy to the lives of her young daughter and teenage son in their small town. As she's on a jog in the woods, she finds her town thrown into chaos as a shooting takes place at her son's school. Miles away on foot in the dense forest, Amy desperately races againstRecently widowed mother Amy Carr (Naomi Watts) is doing her best to restore normalcy to the lives of her young daughter and teenage son in their small town. As she's on a jog in the woods, she finds her town thrown into chaos as a shooting takes place at her son's school. Miles away on foot in the dense forest, Amy desperately races against time to save her son.… Expand

Director: Phillip Noyce

Genre(s): Thriller

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 84 min

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Critic Reviews

Hanna B.

Oct 13, 2021

In the end, I’m not sure if thriller, drama, or action would be best suited to describe Lakewood. Maybe it is not quite the edge-of-the-seat movie one might expect, but it is entertaining enough to keep one fully engaged. Read full review

Movie Nation Roger Moore

Mar 3, 2022

And “iPhone ad” or not, watching Watts power through this picture with nothing jogging togs and Apple’s pride and joy has me sold. Maybe I’ve bought my last Android after all. Read full review

Polygon Oli Welsh

Feb 28, 2022

Watts is fantastic in the film. She excels at desperation and confusion, and she knows how to show naked, raw fragility while disclosing an iron inner strength that’s almost frightening. The film depends on these qualities completely. Read full review

Chris Evangelista

Sep 14, 2021

I'm sure Lakewood had its heart in the right place, and Watts, gosh love her, is really trying, since she's pretty much the only person on screen for most of the movie. But every step Amy takes towards the school is another misstep the movie makes, and by the time she gets to her destination, we've already mentally checked out. Read full review

RogerEbert.com Matt Zoller Seitz

Feb 25, 2022

Once in a while, you see a film where it's clear that everyone involved is operating at the peak of of their skills, yet the whole is so misguided that the result is still awful. Such is The Desperate Hour. Read full review

The Playlist Marya E. Gates

Sep 14, 2021

Philip Noyce is a natural choice for this kind of film. He’s great with actresses in peril and at keeping tension ramped up to eleven. But using the collective trauma of a generation of parents and children as the backdrop for a real-time thriller, whose lives have proven time and again to matter less than the right to own an AK-47, remains unconscionably distasteful. Read full review

Wesley Morris

Feb 25, 2022

The only thing I want less than a thriller about a school shooting is a thriller whose other main character is the main character’s iPhone. Read full review

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User Reviews

JLuis_001

Feb 25, 2022

If someone had told me that this film was just going to be 70 minutes of Naomi Watts running around, I don't think I would have been interested in seeing it.

Surprisingly it's not badly made, but it has no real direction or cohesion. It's more of an acting exercise than a real movie.If someone had told me that this film was just going to be 70 minutes of Naomi Watts running around, I don't think I would have been interested in seeing it.

Surprisingly it's not badly made, but it has no real direction or cohesion. It's more of an acting exercise than a real movie.

Terribly disappointing.… Expand

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Mauro_Lanari

Apr 22, 2022

(Mauro Lanari)
I don't know how the one-man shows shot in real time can be distinguished, from the precursor "Nick of Time" [Badham 1995] to "Phone Booth" [Schumacher 2002], from "Locke" [Knight 2013] to "Beast of Burden" [Hoelzel 2018], from "The Guilty" [Möller 2018] to its US remake(Mauro Lanari)
I don't know how the one-man shows shot in real time can be distinguished, from the precursor "Nick of Time" [Badham 1995] to "Phone Booth" [Schumacher 2002], from "Locke" [Knight 2013] to "Beast of Burden" [Hoelzel 2018], from "The Guilty" [Möller 2018] to its US remake (Fuqua 2021), especially from the moment they seem metaphors of lockdown. This overturned version, with a female protagonist and her iPhone on the other end of 911, is a disheartening hour and a half.… Expand

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