Written and directed by Dhwani Shah, 44 is a tense thriller that keeps your heartrate almost as high as the derelict skyscraper in which the film is set.
A group of friends are waiting on a drug deal, but one of the group is acting particularly squirrelly. When the police arrive and give chase, the group split up. Stu hides in an abandoned building. Separated from her friends, and in fear of being caught by the police, she decides to explore rather than risking sneaking out onto the street.
The darkness breeds paranoia and uncertainty. Quickly the seeds of discomfort are sewn. Shah builds tension with great craftsmanship, flexing her directorial muscles to pack a punch for the audience. Stu tries to go back down the stairs she came up, but no matter how many flights she goes down, she always ends up back at the 44th floor. Some unnatural force is keeping her here. And she is not alone in her entrapment. It becomes apparent that the shadows are not just the absence of light, but rather the presence of something physical. Something wild. Something desperate.
With a great twist at the end, 44 makes nice use of cyclicality in its narrative structure, cleverly tying up all loose ends within a pattern that repeats indefinitely and unknowingly. Sarah Hashmi as Stu brings to life her character’s terror with ease. She is an engaging watch and succeeds in making the film interesting and engaging, despite the story not calling for much character development. Dhwani Shah is a talented director, taking a simple concept and elevating it to the 44th floor. I look forward to seeing more of her work.
Watch the full film on YouTube below!