Landmine Goes Click (2015)

Directed by: Levan Bakhia
Country: Georgia

Movie Review: The English-language “Landmine Goes Click”, set in a remote Georgian mountain region, is a low-budget tale that contains very few positive aspects, both intellectually and cinematographically. Divided into two separate parts, Levan Bakhia’s sophomore feature film addresses nothing else but a double revenge by assembling gruesome situations in an indistinct way. Most of its setbacks were detected during the first part, in which the scenario becomes a ludicrous farce, even if putting some more creativity when compared with the second one, which is a reproduction of situations already seen in other examples within the genre. Three American friends – Chris (Sterling Knight), Daniel (Dean Geyer), and the latter’s girlfriend, Alicia (Spencer Locke) - get into a jeep heading to a former war zone located in Georgia and decide to explore the region. Regardless the fact that Daniel and Chris are best friends for a long time, we’re clarified during the first minutes that Alicia betrayed her boyfriend by having a one-night stand with Chris, who nurtures strong feelings for her and wonders how she might feel about it. She answers it was a mistake and that they should forget the incident for their own sake. However, Daniel discovers the truth and elaborates an evil plan to get rid of Chris, whose jealousy grows stronger. With the help of a newly arrived friend, he assures that Chris becomes trapped when stepping on a landmine ready to explode at any moment. Dumped by Daniel, Alicia who, in the meantime, contently pronounces Chris as her officially new boyfriend, tries to do the right thing in order to free them from the difficulties. With no effective solutions, she’ll have to rely on Ilya (Kote Tolordava), a malicious Georgian stranger who popped up with his useless dog, just to play a few freaking sexual games and then rape her without a bit of condescension. The film then shifts to the uninteresting second part, when Chris, who had survived the traumatic experience, finds Ilya’s place and sets his personal revenge, aiming at the aggressor’s teen daughter. Amateurishly written by Adrian Colussi, “Landmine Goes Click” gets stuck in its own lies and gimmicks while propagating the bad vibes of the principle 'an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth'. I would call it a coarse deceit.