Maps Review

"Be prepared, you won’t be logging on to the internet in such a hurry..."

Cerificate: 12a

Cast: Amy Lowes-Smith, Laura Armstrong, Bethan McCoy

Directors: Hollie Stokes

Running times: 103 minutes

We have seen may attempts at breaking into the modern psychological thriller, most of them have failed miserably and we only have certain exceptions such as Black Swan. Yet no one has broken into the teenage market. Everyone has heard of internet stalkers, and who does it happen to? Teenage girls. Seems like a gap in the market, doesn't it? So, in comes Maps, guns blazing, ready to kick start the whole genre. And boy does it.

The film prays on every ones fear, is the internet getting too private? Do we really know who is watching us? Main character Grace leads a normal teenage life, hanging about with her mates and just basically living life to the full. She soon becomes suspicious of someone following her during her long walks home. She confides in her friend Lydia, who soon shoots her down. Lydia soon turns everyone against Grace and her paranoia reaches new levels. Her facebook messages skyrocket and she becomes convinced that the stalker is using Google maps to follow her every move. However the question remains, is Grace just paranoid or is she just seeing what everyone else is missing out on?

 Lead actress Amy Lowes-Smith completely embodies the mentally unstable Grace; just one simple look of inner turmoil from Lowes-Smith says more than a full raving rant. Lydia, the friend turned enemy, is played by skins actress Laura Armstrong. Hats off to her, I don't think there was anyone in the cinema who didn't want to slap her, a testament to her acting skills and her found niche of playing 'the bitch' . Other performances such as Bethan McCoy, who is rarely seen as the mysterious stalker, deserves a shout out for her unmistakable air of creepiness.

Verdict: Maps has gone where no other film has gone before. Its use of youth’s modern fascination with the internet and social networking makes it stand out from other psychological-thrillers. Scary for parents, even more petrifying for teenagers.

    
                                                                            5/5 aces

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