The Bench Review

Star Rating: 3/5 

Writer: Sean Wilkie

Director: Sean Wilkie

Cast: Jennifer Byrne, Matt McLure, Ilaria Nardini, Chris Somerville, Sean Wilkie, Gareth Hunter, Ross Maxwell, Carmen Pieraccini. 

The horror genre is potentially the hardest genre in which to create great cinematic work. Like with romance, the temptations to fall into cliches are many and consistent. 

The Bench does showcase some examples on how this happens. On the other hand, it does contain some elements of the best horror works. 

The main highlight is the setting. We've seen the group of friends in the cabin in the woods, middle of nowhere story before, but in the case of The Bench, it is not ghosts that lurk to threaten these characters- none of whom are as innocent as they seem- but very real threats.

With most of its elements resembling Americana, complete with a road trip sequence, petrol station scenes and very simple dialogue, The Bench is a good evocation of 2007 aesthetics, but also youth and the relationship styles of that time.  

In the noughties, relationships tended towards stereotypical attitudes and gender roles, such as a young woman having to bluntly state to men that they are 'actually quite smart', like Lisa does in this film. Jarring in 2025, despite a revival of stereotypical approaches to relationships currently taking place. 

At its best, the horror genre tells stories about trauma and how (badly) humans navigate it. This film is a good example of this, with the young characters carrying quite a lot of trauma: bullying, failing university exams, even time in a youth offenders' institution. We even get a glimpse of male on female violence, in the form of a slap. This definitely belongs in a horror movie. 

This group of friends is struggling not just with these sort of traumatic experiences, which are perhaps what they are running away to the woods from, but very physical threats too as the story goes on. Not a bad metaphor for the experience of having to find yourself.

The Bench has more than its fair share of gore, which could have been brought into balance with a deeper exploration of the actual stories we come across. The viewer is left craving for greater exploration of the coming-of-age elements of it, a deeper glimpse into what led them to that cabin, in that wood, before the strong plot twist at the end.