‘Typo’ Movie Review: When The Devil Rears His Horns
‘Typo’ is a drama thriller written and directed by Anthony Meadley. This feature premiered on streaming in the United Kingdom on September 14 and stars Melissa Hollett as Abbie, Guy Barnes as Tim, and David Christopher-Turner as Shawn.
The story is as heartbreaking to watch as it can be and chronicles the life of Abbie, an aspiring writer who meets her prince charming who turns into her worst nightmare. The first encounter between Abbie and Tim is an absolute meet-cute, and the two instantly fall for each other. Before long, they are going for dates, and eventually, they tie the knot and move to a reserved area where Tim buys a house. As the story continues to unfold, we learn that Tim drastically changes.
He’s no longer the sweet loving guy Abbie fell for, he starts abusing her both physically and mentally. Before long, the seemingly happy Abbie who innocently fell hard for the devil himself is now a mere shell of who she used to be.
Tim turns out to be a controlling bastard who wouldn’t let Abbie work or even pursue her dream of becoming a writer as he hinders every single milestone in order to have her encased in his cocoon. Her book even gets a publishing deal, but Tim hides the mail despite encouraging her to write and then blames her for not bringing anything to the table even though he made her quit her job.
When the movie starts, we are introduced to a very sad woman who we later learn is Abbie talking to a man lying on the bed who turns out to be Tim. The monologue goes on and on, as it drags on becoming monotonous, and one starts to wonder what is going on in the scene.
There are a series of intercuts between the present and the past to try and piece the story together to shed light on precisely what the story is about. Movies handling the theme of domestic violence, which is very rampant in modern-day society, is no new thing as many films like these only better have been made.
However, the movie manages to tap into the emotional aspect of it all. When Tim is abusing Abbie, the audience feels her pain; she is very helpless as the maniac of a husband pushes her around, slaps and kicks her even when she is pregnant with their child. Abbie does nothing to protect herself for fear of escalating the abuse and instead suffers in silence, putting on a façade in public.
Audiences can’t help but pity her and join in on her emotional and physical pain, especially her depression after losing her child. One can’t help to be mad at Tim’s mother Barbara played by Lindy Pieri for her failure for supporting her son in his disgusting deeds.
Overall, the story is not really as enticing as one could have thought and doesn’t help the audience to grasp the sequence of events quickly. For instance, we see Abbie hitting Tim on the head with a hammer, then dragging him to the bedroom where she dismembers him as he watches then buries the parts in a shallow grave in the woods. But then we see Abbie again in the next scene in a mental asylum where Tim comes to visit.
This leaves viewers wondering whether the whole thing was all imagined up in Abbie’s wrecked-up mind or it really happened, and these are just flashbacks. Viewers also don’t get to find out how and why Abbie ended up in mental confinement.
In terms of performance, Melissa, as Abbie, tries to deliver her parts as both the helpless, vulnerable, mentally, emotionally, and physically abused Abbie to the heartless murdering Abbie she becomes and the crazy shell-like version of herself. However, her delivery isn’t as powerful as the situations at hand called for. On the other hand, Barnes nails his part as an egocentric psychotic maniac who takes fun at physically assaulting his wife.
The way he flips from an all-loving prince charming to a sadistic narcissist is incredibly amazing. He mistreats his wife without flinching, and his lack of emotion and attachment for both the wife and the unborn child is appalling. His facial expressions are pretty terrifying; one would be scared to the bone meeting someone like his character in real life.
The music used worked well for the film. High paced when something dramatic is about to happen and melancholic and dull when the mood and scene call for it.
The visuals are quite okay as the audience gets the opportunity to see and feel what each of the lead characters has in mind. Whenever Tim is assaulting Abbie, it is very realistic. Kudos to the makeup team; it is quite believable. However, they forgot to carry the bruises on to the next scene. The most dreadful scene in the whole movie is where Abbie chops off Tim’s body parts one by one while he watches, including pulling out his intestines. Whether this really happened or it was an imagination, it is gut-wrenching.
When it comes to the locations, there isn’t much to say about this, as most events take place in the couple’s windswept house in the woods. One barely sees any neighbors and can’t make of what kind of an environment the cursed hose sits on. There are a few shots of the couple outdoors sightseeing when they start dating, which are excellent.
‘Typo’ is not one of the greatest dramas about domestic violence out there. Despite the okay-ish performances by the cast, it still touches the emotional parts of the audience. It might not be as fast-paced, or the dialogue is as wittingly written as expected. However, it still manages to drive its point home. At some point, audiences are pretty mad at the movie when the villain seems to get away with the terrible atrocities he has committed. However, the film gives the audience a pretty satisfying ending even though Abbie’s fate isn’t revealed.
Since the movie was hopefully intended to expose this stinking sore that has infested many families that is domestic violence, at least having the victim triumph and overcome it all would have encouraged somebody somewhere going through the same situation. One can watch this if they have some free time on their hands or deliver a lecture on such a topic.
SCORE: 4/10
