Written and directed by Christopher Fox, Neal’s lonely, gets bullied at work, and is unlucky in love. At the suggestion of a co-worker he decides to go to a massage parlour and in the process his life changes in ways he never would have imagined. Starring: Micah Spayer, Jennifer Figuereo, Westley Barrington Artope and PJ Landers.
Some films can effortlessly blend and mix genres, but while Rub attempts to do that, it falls short. Christopher Fox tries to move between thriller, horror, romance and drama but they don’t blend well. It feels as though it couldn’t commit to one key tone, atmosphere or style to drive the film. The way that it moves eventually falls into the feeling that it doesn’t quite know what it wants to be or where it wants to go.
The story is quite simple, it sets itself off on a chaotic journey but really, it doesn’t have many twists and turns to add into the mix. At times it attempts to split itself between Neal (Micah Spayer) and Perla (Jennifer Figuereo), and the various people chasing them down, but it never commits enough time to establish its villainous characters or their motives. Without those elements, it simply becomes a road trip film and doesn’t have a great deal to offer.
Visually, it’s definitely attempting to explore those genres more, especially with the colours it uses and the way that it experiments with angles and animation, it’s taking more chances. In those stylistic moments, it gives itself the opportunity to accelerate, to throw the story off in unexpected directions, but that never really happens. You can sense that it wants to create something darker yet not losing that dramatic touch but it can’t get the balance right to achieve it.
The performances are a big focus for Rub, Micah Spayer’s Neal is exactly who you expect he’s going to be. Even as their adventure is well underway, he still has a hugely nervous energy. He ticks the right boxes but there aren’t really any hidden layers to his character. Jennifer Figuereo’s Perla has more to offer but it never feels like the story does her justice. She’s almost always secondary to Neal rather than partners, so she doesn’t get the chance to fully explore her character.
Rub had a decent concept, a classic good intentions gone wrong and things spiralling out of control, but while its opening may be chaotic, the rest lacks surprises. The performances are great but exactly what you’d expect. The direction and cinematography attempt to build an edgy, dark and intentionally messy atmosphere but the story lets them down.
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