Movies
[Review] ‘Rupture’ Features Noomi Rapace at Her Best
It seems that the Characters of Noomi Rapace just can’t catch a break since the actress first rose to mainstream attention as Lisbeth Salander in 2009’s adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. With a resume featuring horrific alien abortions and surviving violent perverts, Rapace can almost be considered a high-profile scream queen at this point, and director Steven Shainberg aims to test her limits yet again with his new thriller, Rupture.
Rupture stars Rapace as Renee Morgan, a seemingly normal single mother kidnapped by a mysterious organization that’s been experimenting on human beings in the most gruesome ways imaginable. As she endures both physical and mental torment in an effort to escape the facility and get back to her son, Renee attempts to discover who’s behind these awful experiments, though she might not like the answer.
While many have rushed to dismiss Shainberg’s film as nothing more than “torture porn” (which is already an unfair label for any scary movie), the plot does actually make an effort to delve deeper into the story, despite the limited setting and screenplay. That’s not to say that our protagonist doesn’t suffer through unspeakable horrors, but it’s not quite as gratuitous as in other, similar films.
Overall, Rupture‘s greatest advantage over most other horror movies is Noomi Rapace herself, as the film devotes enough time to developing her character that we end up truly caring and rooting for Renee. Once things take a turn for the worse, she ends up carrying the rest of the film on her shoulders with her performance, making up for many of the script’s flaws and inconsistencies.
Sadly, there are quite a few of these flaws, and though Shainberg’s suspenseful direction manages to create some truly disturbing scenes, it’s not enough to cover up a sub-par script. There are some particularly interesting ideas here, and the mystery of who/what is really behind this organization could have made for an amazing movie. However, not enough time is spent developing these concepts, and the final reveal doesn’t feel all that satisfying because of that.
The limited budget also factors into some of these shortcomings, as a few instances of CGI are downright laughable, and really detract from the tension-filled atmosphere. I understand that there was probably no other way that these effects could have been achieved in this kind of production, but little a bit of subtlety goes a long way in masking imperfect special effects.
In spite of these limitations, Rupture is still a competently made thriller. Rapace’s performance alone is reason enough to justify a watch, though Shainberg’s storytelling skills also help make this a worthwhile experience. I can’t quite defend the script, but at the very least it had a few original ideas, which is a lot more than most “torture porn” movies can admit. It’s not a masterpiece by any means, but Rupture is most definitely worth your time.
Rupture will be available in theaters and VOD on April 28th!
Judging from the unprecedented box office success of Kane Parsons’ Backrooms adaptation, you’ve likely already seen the liminal horror hit that managed to make audiences afraid of empty hallways and bad wallpaper. And now that so many of us have already entered the yellow labyrinth (some of us more than once), the time has come to discuss the spoiler-filled details that make the movie so fascinating in the first place.
And if there’s one element here that makes the Backrooms movie stand out from any previous lore/mythology, it has to be the genius addition of the Still Life entities. Warped recreations of real people that somehow wandered into the Complex, these misremembered creatures are responsible for some of the most disturbing imagery of 2026 – as well as laugh-out-loud memes created by one of the film’s very own concept artists.
However, true to Parsons’ word that the movie would rely heavily on practical effects, each of these distorted monsters was brought to life by real actors under heavy layers of makeup and prosthetics (with the occasional splash of CGI enhancements). While Anora and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You actress Ivy Wolk wasn’t among these performers, despite what Letterboxd might have you believe, the creature cast did benefit from veteran players with plenty of genre experience.
For starters, Alien: Romulus alumni Robert Bobroczkyi (who previously brought that film’s horrific Offspring to life during its most memorable sequence) plays the flick’s main antagonist, the Still Life version of Captain Clark. And though there was some obvious CGI involved in making the character’s peg-leg and nightmarish face more believable, Bobroczkyi’s monstrous performance and his natural 7’7″ frame helped to make that final chase sequence a clear highlight among this year’s genre offerings.
The film’s Texas-Chain-Saw-inspired “dinner” scene also features a freaky collection of less-aggressive Still Life creatures in the form of the Bearded Man, the Red-Headed Woman and, strangest of them all, the cheekily named “Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life” (who earned this title among fans and crewmembers as a reference to his apparent affinity for lamps).
While this was the first major horror outing for both Patrick Baynham (The Bearded Man) and Dana Mahmood (Archibald), Rhiannon Roberts has worked as a stunt performer in everything from Yellowjackets to HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation – which is probably why The Red-Headed Woman is the most active out of Clark’s impromptu “family.” That being said, the Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life is my personal favorite of the bunch simply because his anachronistic outfit suggests that the Backrooms phenomenon might be a lot older than the Async Foundation. I also love how hard he tries to be helpful with that little light of his!
That might be it for the Still Life entities, but I think horror fans will also be pleased to hear that the film’s Found Footage prologue stars none other than Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City star Avan Jogia as Naren Warne – and American Mary herself Katharine Isabelle also shows up in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo at Mary’s house party towards the middle of the story (though I have a feeling that she originally had a bigger part that was likely cut for time).
At the end of the day, Parsons’ Backrooms may have been an auteur-driven project motivated by the young director’s unique take on the classic creepypasta, but film has always been a collective artform, so it’s fun to see just how many talented performers it takes to bring this kind of supernatural nightmare to life in a way that connects with so many people.
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