With A Lonely Place To Die, brothers Julian and Will Gilbey (Rise of the Footsoldier) have written a well paced and tense thriller.  Taking place in the Scottish Highlands with Julian Gilbey acting as director, the film starts with five mountaineers hiking and climbing.  The first half hour or so introduces the characters and their personality quirks.  Once on their hike, they stumble across a little girl buried in a box underground with just a pipe to breath from.  It quickly becomes apparent that the people who put her there are still nearby in the form of a sneering Mr Kidd (Sean Harris) and a gruff Mr Mcrae (Stephen McCole).  One of the hikers, Alison (Melissa George), begins to emerge as the emotionally strongest of the bunch taking the lead as they attempt to lead everyone out of the highlands into a village before the kidnappers catch up. Ed (Ed Speleers) plays a fairly large role as well and does a terrific job, but really serves as support to Alison.

Darko (Karl Roden) and Andy (Eamonn Walker) are then men tasked with dealing with the kidnappers and retrieving the girl.  This add an extra dimension to the dance between the flight of the hikers and the chase of the kidnappers.  As a result, it is imperative that they get the child back as quickly as possible.  The chase is on and is nonstop throughout the latter part of the film. The action is tight and well timed which gives the movie an overall sense of urgency and sharpness.  All of the characters have a need to see events come to a quick end, as how it plays out decides whom will survive.  You are never quite certain what will happen and the twists come in odd ways to keep you guessing.

Mr Kidd and Mr Mcrae are relentless in their pursuit of the girl and the people whom have taken her. Completely ruthless in their methods, the only thing they seem to disagree upon is how many die in their wake. Darko and Andy are calm, determined and professional, never belying the stress their respective work brings, never losing sight of the thing they are hired to do.  These two groups themselves are in a bit of a cat and mouse game, but it does not become apparent which until the very late in the film.

Wonderful long shots of the Scottish Highland begin the film and are spliced throughout the story as a contrast to the tight action shots.  The climbing was done in the highlands as opposed to a set with the crew suspending themselves to get the shots that provided such great footage.  This particular angle to shooting only enhances the sense of how dangerous rock climbing is, as well as increasing the tension considerably as you realize they are being hunted as well.  Professionally shot, the film transitions from the highland afternoon to a city at night visually without ever seeming to lose its bright, crisp colors.  A driving and well timed soundtrack complement the action and is mixed well, never drowning out the dialogue.

The depth of the story and the completeness of the characters makes this tightly woven film one of the more impressive thrillers to come out in some time.  A key to good thrillers is consequences for one’s actions, both good and bad, and this has plenty of both.

Well worth seeing, highly recomended.