The Octopus Nest
2019 · 19m · UK
Directed by John Michell
Genres: drama, mystery, thriller
Tones: contemplative, dark, tense
When a couple discover the same mysterious woman appearing in the background of their holiday photos over ten years, the wife's investigation into her identity forces her to confront uncomfortable truths about her own life and whether willful ignorance is preferable to reality.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
A literary adaptation that could've been a parlor thriller becomes something weirder—where the real threat isn't plot but the slow corruption of memory itself, which is deliciously perverse for a story about *looking at pictures*.
Michell understands how to inherit from the psychological thriller tradition while respecting Hannah's text; the deliberate pacing and compositional restraint transform snapshot-gazing into formal suspense, proof that adaptation can deepen rather than dilute.
The decision to let the paranoia accumulate through *repeated viewings* of the same photographs—each pass revealing something new—is the film's structural spine; it's a small formal choice that does almost all the work, turning a low-concept premise into something architecturally sound.
Reviews
John Michell's directing reveals nothing about where the story is headed, with a favoring of shots that emphasize close quarters, making the creeping unease of the premise vivid.
The tension built in this was really great, really felt like a BBC crime drama or at least the intro to one.
Festivals
- Galway Film Fleadh 2020
- Norwich Film Festival 2021