What struck me straight from the start of House of Glass was the feeling of ‘oh- what am I about to experience’ emotion that I love from a movie. The film starts with the shot that you see on the poster art. Alex (played by Jenny Shakeshaft) is standing in front of a home swimming pool at night, the pool is beautifully lit and Alex stands there, and the slow motion shot is her smoking a cigarette. Such a simple image but beautifully shot and played for the audience. The scene lingers for quite a few seconds, as does the ‘where is this story going?’ feeling that I had. I was hooked, and intrigued.
I’m a sucker for films with minimal casts and minimal locations. There are only seven characters in House of Glass and at most, you only ever see four of them in any one scene together (and that’s just for one scene) the remainder of the 86 minute film features just two characters, or three characters at anyone time. Very clever!
So what is the story of House of Glass. I will go into it without giving any spoilers. Alex (Jenny Shakeshaft) and Ian ( Stephen Ellis) are having marital problems because Alex is convinced that Ian’s talking in his sleep is related to an affair she believes he is having. She doesn’t know who the mystery woman is, but shes totally convinced that Ian is cheating on her. Even when they visit a doctor and the doctor can find no evidence of Ian talking in his sleep, Alex isn’t convinced and starts to get a little obsessed with finding out what her husband has been up to.
What follows is a guessing game for the audience about whether Alex is right in her thinking and that Ian is in fact cheating on her or whether we take the side of Ian and the Doctor who are convinced that its Alex who is imaging this all and seems to be headed towards some sort of breakdown. Now for a film like this which relies heavily on the dilemma of which character we believe and we the audience are correct in our guesswork, this film could easily have fallen on its face had it not ‘stuck the landing’ and had a convincing and believable as well as rewarding final act. Without going into the details of the final act or the outcome of the film. I will say that for me the film did ‘stick the landing’ and certainly did deliver a believable, convincing and rewarding ending. That thankfully meant that overall I really did enjoy House of Glass. Id have been so sad if the film had gotten so far and then collapsed with its climax. Phew! Writer David I. Jenkins and director Reyn Del Rio delivered!
The performances in House of Glass are also top notch. Whilst Ian is wonderfully played, the centre stage of the film certainly belongs to Alex who caused me to second guess my thoughts on her character so many times through the film. Was she the victim? Was the the aggressor? Was she just a lunatic? Was she all three of those things and more? Her character could so easily have been two dimensional but Jenny Shakeshaft does an amazing job of adding that third dimension to what could easily have been a ‘movie of the week’ type character. Jenny helps elevate this film up to the next level (as of course do the script and the films production) When possible I try to go into an indie film knowing as little as possible in the hope of being surprised, entertained, and thrilled. House of Glass hits 3 for 3 on that score and once again the indie gem finders at Cockerel Entertainment have delivered another highly entertaining film that goes onto my ‘hey if you want a good film. I have one for you’ list! Do check out House of Glass on Prime Video. You can rent or buy it now from HERE.
I have placed the official trailer here for you but I would urge you (or at least recommend you) avoid the trailer and check the film out instead. I only watched the trailer after the movie and it does give a few things away that I am glad I didnt know beforehand.
