HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Elevator'' is a 2011 American mystery thriller film directed by Stig Svendsen. It follows the struggles and conflicts of nine strangers trapped in a
Wall Street Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...
elevator 49 floors above Manhattan on the way to a company party. One of the group has a bomb. The film's events follow the group's attempts to escape, with racism, greed and revenge playing key elements as they all fight to survive. The film is loosely based on a janitor's apprentice's real life experience in Glasgow, Scotland.


Plot

Nine people board an elevator in a New York City skyscraper 52 stories tall: security guard Mohammed, television reporter Maureen and her fiance Don, comedian George, newly widowed Jane, overweight employee Martin, pregnant Celine, and the building owner Henry Barton with his spoiled ten-year-old granddaughter Madeline, who are on their way to a company party on the top floor. On the way up, George, a claustrophobic, panics and, on the 49th floor, Madeline hits the emergency stop button to torment him. Henry presses the lobby floor button, but the elevator only descends by a few feet and stops. Henry presses the call button and alerts security. When the elevator fails to move, security dispatches a maintenance crew. While waiting for help, the group talk with each other. Jane, who says that her son died in Iraq in the last year, confronts Henry and says her husband lost everything because Barton Investments pushed junk bonds. In her anger, she planned on "making a point" at the party. Suddenly, Jane collapses and dies of a heart attack, but before she dies, she admits that she has a bomb. After arguing, Celine checks Jane's body and finds the bomb secured around her waist by means of a bike lock. Don tries to look for a way out via the ceiling, to no avail. Don stops Celine from smoking, and she asks when he became a concerned father. Maureen overhears and demands an explanation; Don confesses he is possibly the father of Celine's unborn child. Maureen is distraught. Henry once again calls security, but he angers them and they stop responding. Maureen documents the events with her phone and sends them to her television station, which picks up the story and starts running the footage she has captured. The others force open the doors, and Don attempts to climb out. The opening is too small, but he uses Jane's walking stick to press the elevator call button. At the same time, Madeline presses several buttons on the control panel. The elevator's brakes deactivate, and Don's arm is severed as the elevator drops several floors. Mohammed uses a necktie as a tourniquet to slow the blood loss. Henry is left confused and dazed. George suggests that they pry open the doors again to see if the elevator has lined up with a floor in their drop, but they discover that the elevator stopped between floors, much to their dismay. Martin brings up the local news on his phone, and they watch a live interview with the bombmaker. The man was good friends with Jane's son and felt that he owed their family. He estimates it will detonate in ten minutes. Desperate, George suggests dismembering Jane's body to separate her from the bomb and throw it down the shaft. When he loses his nerve, an angry Henry takes over, with George making Henry promise each person $1 million should they survive. While they are trying to tear the bomb off, a security guard on the intercom tells them that the bomb squad is there and lowering the elevator. They open the doors, make a small opening, and help all but Martin escape. When only Martin is left, he knows that the opening is not big enough for him to fit through. George desperately orders the SWAT members to raise the elevator to rescue Martin. As they lower the elevator to the basement to get him out, Martin weeps, knowing his death is imminent. Before the bomb explodes, he regains his composure and realizes he is the hero, as he helped everybody survive. Don is taken to hospital, and George asks Henry about the $1 million he promised each of the group, which he ignores. George and Mohammed have a brief discussion outside the building about what lies ahead for them. A news reporter asks George how he stayed so brave during the ordeal, to which George lies and said he had to stay calm for everybody there, then races off after a phone call from his wife, who had no idea what happened, to pick something up from the store. Mohammed looks on.


Cast

The film hosts an
ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that is composed of multiple principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast to ...
: * Christopher Backus as Don Handley, a mutual funds manager at Barton, fiancé of Maureen *
Anita Briem Anita Briem (born 29 May 1982) is an Icelandic actress. She is known for her role as Queen Jane Seymour on '' The Tudors'' and her role as Hannah Ásgeirsson in '' Journey to the Center of the Earth''. Personal life Briem was born on 29 May ...
as Celine Fouquet, a mutual funds employee at Barton who is pregnant. *
John Getz John William Getz (born October 15, 1946) is an American character actor. After starting his acting career on stage, he has appeared in numerous television series and films. Personal life Getz, one of four children, was born in Davenport, Iowa, ...
as Henry Barton, CEO of Barton Investments. * Shirley Knight as Jane Redding, a newly widowed woman whose investments in Barton recently tanked. * Rachel and Amanda Pace as Madeline Barton, Henry Barton's 10-year-old granddaughter. *
Devin Ratray Devin D. Ratray (born January 11, 1977) is an American actor. He is known for his role as Buzz McCallister in the ''Home Alone'' franchise, as well as the films ''Nebraska'', ''Blue Ruin'' and '' Kimi''. His television work includes '' The Tick' ...
as Martin Gossling, a mutual funds manager at Barton. * Joey Slotnick as George Axelrod, a claustrophobic comedian who was booked at the last minute. * Tehmina Sunny as Maureen Asana, an investigative reporter for a local news station, fiancée of Don. *
Waleed Zuaiter Waleed F. Zuaiter (; born January 16, 1971) is an Arab-American actor and producer who has performed in on-stage productions in Washington, D.C.; Berkeley, California; and New York City, as well as several film and television productions. He l ...
as Mohammed, a security guard. * Michael Mercurio as The Bombmaker


Release

Rumored for a 2011 release, there were sneak preview screenings at the Australian Film and Television School, the University of Southern California and the Los Angeles Film School. The film was released in the U.S. in August 2011.


Reception

Steve Barton of
Dread Central Dread Central is an American website founded in 2006 that is dedicated to horror news, interviews, and reviews. It covers horror films, comics, novels, and toys. Dread Central has won the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award for Best Website f ...
rated it 3.5/5 stars and wrote, "In the end it hits the mark way more than it misses and easily ranks up there with some of the year's best thrillers." Karin Crighton of HorrorTalk rated it 3/5 stars and wrote that the film did not live up to its potential.


References


External links

* *
Stig & Tehmina Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elevator (2011 Film) 2011 horror films 2011 horror thriller films 2011 films American horror thriller films 2010s English-language films Films set in New York City Films set in elevators 2010s American films