Donkey Punch, the title of this ship-bound British thriller, refers to a sexual act that a bunch of twenty-somethings discuss while hanging out aboard a luxurious yacht. Three young British women are vacationing in Spain for the sole purpose of helping one of them, Tammi (Nichola Burley), forget a loser boyfriend whom she left back in Leeds. Her friends, Lisa (Sian Breckin) and Kim (Jaime Winstone) accept an offer from three guys whom they meet to go party on their yacht. The boat isn’t theirs, they’re just the crew--the owner has already flown home and they’re just biding time until they turn to boat over to the care of another crew. Tammi, who’s the classic "good girl" in these type of thrillers, is reluctant to even go aboard--until Lisa and Kim persuade her.
And then, of course, all hell breaks loose. After a swim, Lisa and Kim go below deck and engage in a wild orgy with three of the four men, while Tammi, still stinging over the betrayal of her ex-boyfriend remains on deck with nice guy Sean. Everybody’s having a swinging time below decks, with one of them recording it all on tape, until one of the men, Josh (Julian Morris), decides to try out the Donkey Punch idea on his sex partner, and winds up accidentally killing her. What follows is a junior league Alfred Hitchcock story as the guys desperately try to cover up the murder, which then lead to further murders, as the remaining people aboard the yacht play a dangerous game of cat and mouse.
While Donkey Punch has a great set-up, and the actors are very good, the movie
falls flat about halfway through the film. I’m not sure if the director felt
restricted by the limited location of filming aboard the boat, or what, but the
movie never really feels like it takes off as a proper thriller. What doesn’t
help is the fact that the characters keep doing increasingly stupid things as
the film moves on, which makes it hard for the viewer to feel any sympathy for
them. For instance, when you’re a pair of women trapped on a boat filled with aggravated men
who are responsible for the death of your friend, it’s probably not a very good
idea to antagonize them with threats of dropping the soap in prison.
Although it takes place in Spain, the film was actually shot in and off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa, and while director Oliver Blackburn tries hard to keep things moving, the pacing still feels very tedious at times, which is murder for a thriller like this. And because it so quickly runs out of ideas, the script requires each of its cast to have a "psycho" moment just to keep the momentum going--but, for some of them, like good girl Tammi, having a psycho moment goes completely against their character. Donkey Punch tries hard to be an edgy thriller along the lines of Dead Calm. But unlike that modern day high seas suspense classic, it’s unable to maintain the edgy vibe that it starts out with, thus making this a "punch" that’s just best avoided altogether.
--SF
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