The film is beautifully shot in black and white. Just a pleasure to watch in that regard. In terms of the basic premise, you have a Polish married couple in a private vehicle. It's a nice car, but they're squished together on the car's front bench seat. Shoulder touching shoulder, without any extra room. It's not meant to be a small compact car, but you're definitely not going to fit a more than 4 people in this car.
The hitchhiker is younger. Maybe he's supposed to be half the age of the couple. Why does he walk around and hitchhike? Boredom, perhaps, although maybe the couple is bored, too. If you're rich and bored, you go out boating. If you're poor and bored, you go out hitchhiking.For whatever reason, the man decides to let the younger man ride with them. Then, he invites him to join their one-day cruise. Why? Even his wife will eventually ask him why. Is the older man "showing off"? Does he want to make the young man jealous of his life -- boat, wife, status? We never really learn the motive. Later, his wife will tell the young man that he is how she and her husband used to be, and one day, perhaps, the young man will be like they are now. Is that good? Bad? Inevitable?
As I watched the motive, I was looking for tension or for characters who might be different than the how they act or the way they seem on the surface. To be honest, the characters seem to be who they are. The hitchhiker, for example, wasn't plotting anything. He didn't have plans to rob the couple, kill them, or steal the boat. At one point, he had control of the boat while the couple was in the water, but he didn't try to take it. Of course, he legit didn't know how to control the boat.
The first day comes to a close, and the couple and their guest go below deck. They play a game of "pick up sticks," and again, we wait for something to happen. The wife takes off her top, but she's not trying to be provocative, and the young man doesn't try to look. The older man watches the younger man, but there doesn't seem to be any jealousy.
Maybe what gets the most attention is the young man's knife. It's a kind of switchblade almost. Why does he have such a dangerous looking knife? Simple: It comes in handy while walking... but, the young man admits, a knife is not too useful on a boat.
The older man knows this knife is the younger man's most prized position, and the next day, the knife "accidently" goes overboard. This is when "business picks up," but again, anything that we thought might happen, doesn't. No one drowns. No one is killed, but the rub is, not everyone knows what happens. Actually, the only one to know what happens to each of them is the wife. She is the only one with the full story.
What happens in the last 20 minutes is somewhat odd. When the young man goes overboard, the husband jumps in to look for him. He doesn't find him, but the young man eventually swims back to the boat, even though he earlier claimed he couldn't swim,
When the young man is back on the boat, they lose track of the husband. He will be waiting at the dock, but the interval gives the wife and the young man an opportunity to be alone. How do they use that moment, and is it believable? If you thought a man -- specifically you're husband, no less -- had just drowned, how would you act on the boat? Her actions are somewhat incredible, although we have seen her husband insult and belittle her, and we have seen her looking more and more intently at the young man, although it's still pretty subtle and the camera never makes a big deal about it.
While the ending is interesting, I'm still a little disappointed and not 100% sure I follow why what happens, happens, or what we're supposed to make of it all. All I can go back to is that the wife has the full story, and she knows what happened to each man. She is the one, in a way, in charge.
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
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