“Stillwater” is a carefully constructed thriller from director Adrian Kays and his debut feature film, depicting a troubled young man in search of his father and uncovering a gruesome past in the process.
The problem with it is that it is too carefully constructed and the “craftsmanship” gets into the way of the story in as much as your interest wanes as the plot unfolds. You recognize that all the ingredients for a thriller are there and that the director has thought it through, it’s just not interesting. Compelling storytelling needs compelling characters and ambience. The actors unfortunately could have been better and the sound track is just annoying at times.