After a romantic evening at their secluded lake house, a woman finds herself handcuffed to her husband’s dead body. A film by S.K. Dale, starring Megan Fox, Eoin Macken, Callan Mulvey, Jack Roth, and Aml Ameen.
TILL DEATH
S.K. Dale
(2021)
Emma (Megan Fox) feels trapped in an unhappy marriage with her husband Mark Webster (Eoin Macken). She’s been having an affair with Tom Gorman (Aml Ameen), an attorney at Mark Webster & Gaber LLC. One night, Emma decides to end her relationship, stating that it’s going nowhere and won’t work out. Tom asks to meet her one last time the following night. Emma declines his request, explaining that tomorrow is her anniversary.
The next day, Emma visits her husband at his office. His secretary hands her a bouquet of white roses and wishes her a happy anniversary. As Emma looks around Mark’s office, she notices a confidential document folder from the New York Police Department lying on the table, with a small piece of paper sticking out. Curious, she gently pulls it out and discovers that it’s a Polaroid photo of herself. In the picture, Emma’s face is marked with bruises and cuts, and it’s labeled with the handwritten name “EMMA DAVENPORT.”
She flips through the folder and realizes it contains her case file from when she was assaulted during an attempted robbery. Inside, she finds a photograph of her attacker, Bobby Ray (Callan Mulvey), who has an injured left eye — an injury she inflicted on him in self-defense. The police statement notes that Bobby fled the scene in panic and was quickly apprehended by the authorities.
Emma confronts Mark, asking what he’s doing with her file. Mark explains that Bobby is a client and that he’s helping him with his parole, which is currently being revoked. As they head down in the elevator, they bump into Tom, who just steps in. Mark introduces Tom to Emma, but Emma quickly tells Mark that she met Tom at the Christmas party last year. Tom then pretends to remember that Emma auctioned off some of her photographs for charity. Feeling awkward and frustrated, Emma’s heart races when Mark corrects them, saying it wasn’t the Christmas party where they first met; it was the holiday party. Emma worries that Mark might sense something between her and Tom.
Mark takes Emma out to celebrate at LE BALLONNET, an opulent French restaurant. After dinner, he catches her off guard with an unexpected gift: a custom-made steel necklace to commemorate their 11-year anniversary. This surprises her, as they had agreed not to exchange anniversary presents. Mark asks Emma to try it on, but she also has a surprise for him — two Super Bowl tickets, which he has always wanted. However, Mark seems unimpressed and insists that Emma try on the steel necklace. Before they leave the restaurant, he leaves the Super Bowl tickets in the folder with the bill.
Outside the restaurant, Mark tells Emma that he has one final surprise for her before they head home and asks her to check her pockets. Emma finds a strip of black cloth. He blindfolds her while he drives her to a secluded lake house that he has prepared for their anniversary. It is the place that holds fond memories from the early days of their relationship. Inside, Emma discovers rose petals scattered on the table and floor, along with a note that reads, “I love you with all my heart. Till death do us part! Faithfully yours.” The room is filled with hundreds of lit candles, and there are wedding photographs and pictures of them together hanging on wires. An LP player sits nearby with a note saying, “Play me!” When she drops the needle, the song “Falling Leaf” by Bud Ross and The Asylum begins to play.
In the bedroom, Mark is waiting with two glasses of champagne. He begins by apologizing for the issues that have arisen between them, acknowledging that he hasn’t been a good husband. He tells Emma that he knows a surprise anniversary celebration can’t fix everything, but he hopes it will be a starting point for rebuilding their relationship. They then make love.
Emma wakes up the next morning to find herself handcuffed to Mark. She becomes terrified when Mark abruptly commits suicide by shooting himself in the head, leaving her trapped with his lifeless body. Unable to call for help, she discovers that the phone in the bedroom has no dial tone. She attempts to shoot the handcuff chain with Mark’s revolver, but it’s empty.
Emma feels a chill as the mid-winter weather grows colder. With no other options, she drags Mark’s body into the walk-in closet, where all the clothes have been removed except for her wedding dress, which hangs in the middle of the room. Behind the wedding dress, she discovers a safe. She decides to take Mark’s shirt and put it on, then lays the wedding dress underneath his body to make it easier to drag him around.
Eventually, she stumbles down the stairs with Mark’s body and realizes that he left the front door wide open. She also finds that Mark dropped her phone in a vase, rendering it useless. Additionally, he had removed all sharp objects and metal tools from the house, preventing Emma from breaking free from the handcuffs.
Emma manages to make her way to the SUV parked in the garage, she starts the car but it abruptly dies. Soon she discovers that the gasoline has earlier been siphoned ou. Suddenly The car’s audio starts to play Norma Jenkins’ Need Someone to Love, followed by Mark’s voice asking if she remember their wedding song, and that he is impressed that she has made it this far. The film reveals that Mark is not a fool, as he is fully aware of Emma’s affair with Tom. Far from being oblivious, he has carefully orchestrated a sinister plan to exact revenge on those who’ve betrayed him.
Unaware that this is just the beginning of Mark’s master plan, Emma soon discovers that all of her photos in the darkroom have been damaged. Some of the photos have been replaced with images of her and Tom, presumably taken by a detective hired by Mark. To her shock, at the end of the room, there is a large photo of Bobby, the man who attacked her. She realizes that Bobby will play a significant role in Mark’s revenge scheme.
Directed by Australian filmmaker S.K. Dale in his directorial debut, “TILL DEATH” is a twisted thriller based on an original screenplay by Jason Carvey. While the plot may not break new ground, Dale’s direction and Carvey’s writing combine to create a tense and engaging narrative. The film effectively uses pacing and cinematography to build suspense.
Megan Fox delivers a compelling lead performance as a woman who finds herself handcuffed to her dead husband, the victim of his twisted revenge plot. Set against the isolated backdrop of a snowy winter landscape, the film ratchets up the tension as Fox’s character must outwit her husband’s accomplices while quite literally dragging his corpse behind her.
Despite its modest budget, “Till Death” manages to deliver solid thrills and showcases Fox’s ability to carry a film. The confined setting and small cast allow for a focused narrative that keeps viewers on edge throughout.
TILL DEATH was theatrically released in the United States on 2 July 2021. It was also simultaneously released on VOD on the same day.