The Ledge - FrightFest Glasgow 2022

Friends Kelly (Brittany Ashworth) and Sophie (Anaïs Parello) on climbing holiday. For the accomplished mountaineers it’s a poignant and sad return after the loss of Kelly’s fiancé. And as much fun as they are having this is on their minds. Which are then filled with the arrival of group of four school friends - Josh (Ben Lamb), Reynolds (Nathan Welsh), Nathan (Louis Boyer) and Taylor (David Wayman) - for their annual reunion.

Friends though is pushing it as it soon becomes clear that there isn’t that much of the old camaraderie left. Most have moved on from those school days apart from school bully Josh whose IQ remained firmly lodged at his shoe size. But there is a feral loyalty between them that is tested when they go too far with Sophie and are forced to pursue Kelly up the mountain to clear up the mess they have made.

Being the better mountaineer Kelly takes a route they can’t though driven by primal instincts and fear the men take a different route eventually trapping her, on a ledge. This results in something of a stalemate and psychological warfare ensues as each tries to take advantage from their respective positions. Complicating matters for the men are their infighting with past events pulled out and held over to keep some sort of discipline.

A virtually all UK cast playing Americans is a little odd and accents do fly off at tangents at times. This doesn’t distract from the film which holds the viewers interest for the duration with its mixture of violence and intrigue as the protagonists try to outthink the other.

For Kelly this is about staying alive and making the best use of a terrible situation relying on her skills, instincts and memories. For the men there’s multiple issues with Josh going full on psycho and the others digging deep within themselves to stay loyal for a barbaric act and cover-up or move forward to responsibility for their inaction.

In actual fact there isn’t a great deal of deep thought here as this is fairly routine nutjob on a mountain thriller. Having said that there are some great moments of tension that director Howard J Ford, written by Tom Boyle combines well with some terrific scenery and stunt work.

The players are ok, the script so-so and character development is sketchy; just enough to provide sufficient sympathy and hate for the actors as they are cast.

The Ledge will be available on Digital Platforms from 14th March and DVD 21st March