Malina (Sina Martens) actually wanted to go on a trip to South America with her boyfriend Enno (Artjom Gilz). But things turn out differently. When she comes to, she realizes that she is trapped in the trunk of a moving car. She doesn't know who put her there or where she's going. Luckily for her, she has her cell phone, which still works even under these adverse circumstances. When she dials the emergency number, a woman (Luise Helm) answers on the other end of the line and tells her everything in a panic. She also promises to do everything possible to free Malina. But that's not so easy when no one knows where she is...

The well-known emergency A woman who was kidnapped and is talking to the police emergency call center from a moving car? This might sound familiar to some. In 2013 there was the thriller The Call – Don’t hang up! with Halle Berry, in which a girl was kidnapped in the parking lot and is now trapped in the trunk. Then there was the Danish genre entry The Guilty from 2018, which caused a sensation and received a Hollywood remake years later. There, a police officer tried to free the caller from the hands of her husband, who picked her up and was driving her somewhere. Now there is a German contribution, the Amazon Prime Video film Trunk – Locked in, which also attempts such a scenario.

The story is not particularly new; in principle, everything has already been done. But that doesn't automatically make the film bad. There is a change of perspective here that promises a slightly different viewing experience. Where The Call constantly alternated between scenes in the trunk and those in the emergency call center, The Guilty took place exclusively in the emergency call center. So you didn't see the kidnapping victim there, but rather experienced the panic of the police officer who was desperately trying to move heaven and hell. Trunk – Locked in, in turn, remains in the trunk and shows neither the helper, who introduces herself as Elisa, nor the two parents. This increases the feeling of being at the mercy of others and completely alone. There are also few landmarks. Read Also: [url=https://creativejamie.com/the-beekeeper-movie-explained/%5DThe Beekeeper Movie Explained[/url]: What’s Up With the Ending?

Not very exciting That could have been very exciting. Helplessness combined with a claustrophobic setting? That sounded good. Unfortunately, that is not the result. A big problem is the unnatural dialogues, which make it hard to believe right from the start that they are actually of human origin. It's always hard to understand why who says what. Especially when the film really wants to tell something, for example about the characters' relationships, this is noticed negatively. The content is not at all convincing. So Trunk – Locked in tries a twist later. But honestly, you can see them coming from miles away, even blindfolded in the trunk. However, other points that could potentially have been interesting were simply forgotten along the way.

In terms of staging, things look a little better. One can argue about whether looking at camera footage, which director and screenwriter Marc Schießer repeatedly brings into the picture, is such a good idea. Sure, Malina doesn't leave the car, the recordings are a trick to tell a lot without having to put it into dialogue. But it also spoils the atmosphere a bit. There are some stylish tracking shots later on in which Trunk – Locked discovers his artistic side. That doesn't actually fit with the story either, but it looks pretty neat. But that alone is not enough. The thriller, which premiered at the Film Festival Cologne 2023, cannot convince despite a few promising elements. Despite the tricky situation, things never get exciting here.