247°F (2011)

“247°F” is an interesting movie about four friends who go out to an island for a pagan themed holiday. One of them has an uncle who lives on the island and he’s been building new additions to his house. The newest addition is a three friends who become trapped in a sauna while their drunk friend and their uncle watch fireworks and get high. The sauna continues to build heat after the trapped friends break a window for fresh air, making the room to become dangerously hot. They try everything they can to stay cool and find a way out but they are completely trapped. The end result, when the uncle finally finds them, is sad and somber. It’s a decent film in that it builds suspense and shares the big “reveal” at the end, a reveal that is believable and not a shocking twist.

The only thing that I didn’t like about this film was the main character, Jenna. We see that Jenna had a finacee that was killed in a car accident three years earlier and that she’s still pretty torn up about it. She’s taking anxiety pills to deal with her issues but decides to skip them when she is paired up with Ian. Because of her skipped her pills, she becomes the cause for the real problems that occur when she, Ian, and Renee get trapped after Renee’s drunk boyfriend Michael leaves to go get high. I just feel that Jenna’s story is weak and poorly played out. It could have been great but misses the mark.

Favorite moment - Seeing Tyler Mane in a lovable and sympathetic role as Ian's uncle.