Trunk – Movie Review [Prime Video] (3/5)

TRUNK on Prime Video is a new claustrophobic thriller that manages to keep the intensity throughout. From Germany but the story is very universal. Read our full Trunk – Locked In movie review here!

TRUNK (2023) is a new Prime Video thriller from Germany. It’s of the very claustrophobic variety as we follow a woman who is locked in the trunk of a speeding car. Fortunately, she has her smartphone with her.

With a runtime of 1 hour and 36 minutes, it’s one hell of a ride. One where the intensity is virtually constant. While you may get irritated with some of her actions, she is also under an extreme amount of pressure. All while fighting for survival.

Continue reading our TRUNK – Locked In movie review below. Find it on Prime Video from January 26, 2024.

Disoriented and bleeding with no memory

The plot of TRUNK is the stuff nightmares are made of. And, unfortunately, it’s also the kind of story you could hear in a true crime documentary. Well, some variation of it, in any case.

We meet the 28-year-old medical student Malina (Sina Martens) as she wakes up to an actual nightmare. She’s disoriented and locked in the trunk of a strange car. Also, apart from missing her recent memories of what happened, she’s bleeding from her abdomen.

By chance and sheer willpower, she has her phone with her. This is her connection to the outside world, but she has no idea where she is or who is driving the car.

It becomes a desperate battle for survival, which will unveil quite a few secrets the further the car gets to its final destination. She comes to recognize that even if she makes it out alive – she will never be the same.

Adrenaline-Laced yet claustrophobic

This new German thriller on Prime Video may not be in English, but the story is very universal: It’s about doing whatever you can to survive. Also, as much as it’s claustrophobic, it’s extremely adrenaline-laced with action throughout.

The impressive and constantly moving camerawork ensures that it never gets too sedentary. Instead, we’re moving around inside the trunk along with the woman who’s trapped inside it.

Malina makes stupid decisions along the way, which irritated me. However, as we get to know her, we’re forced to recognize that she has a pattern of making awful decisions. In that sense, any other reaction would’ve been less credible.

Watch TRUNK on Prime Video!

Trunk was written and directed by Marc Schießer. This is his feature directorial debut after having made a few genre short films and directing the German mystery series Wishlist.

Marc Schießer also produced this new thriller with his partner Tobias Lohf under their Outside the Club banner. As a single-location thriller, this movie works incredibly well. It’s up there with Oxygen and #Manhole.

This German thriller appropriately had its world premiere at Filmfestival Cologne. It then went on to win “Best Thriller Feature” at Nightmares Film Festival, so it was off to a good start. And yes, it is obvious to see why this movie would win awards.

Now it will be on Prime Video in over 240 countries and territories around the world.

TRUNK – Locked In will be on Prime Video from January 26, 2024.

Details

Writer & Director: Marc Schießer
Cast: Sina Martens, Artjom Gilz, Luise Helm, Poal Cairo