With a name like Blunt Force Trauma I really wasn’t sure about what to expect from this picture; was it a fighting movie? Maybe something about an attack? I wasn’t sure but what I got was a picture about the 21st century take on pistol dueling. In these south American matches the two duelists take spots at opposite ends of a make shift arena, there they are given a small area to stand. They are not allowed to move from this spot and from this point they shoot at each other till one surrenders or collapses. I should mention that these contenders are wearing bullet proof vests plus all shots are to the chest only, thus the film title Blunt Force Trauma.

The story revolves around its two protagonists- John played by Ryan Kwanten and Col (Freida Pinto). They are in some ways opposites like two sides of the same coin- hot and cold, fire and ice. John is cool, calm,driven, collected,he is out to prove something to himself and has almost no distractions in his mission. This coldness hides his passion well as he is searching for something yet he does not know what that is, nothing will stand in the way of him pursuing it. I’ve seen Kwanten in plenty of things such as True Blood and Knights of Badassdom but nothing like this. In Blunt Force Trauma he is almost unrecognizable as he plays this part subtly yet driven and it’s a great deep performance that shows his acting shops off to the max.

In opposition to John’s coldness is Colt’s fire with her passion and her anger. Colt is someone who knows what she wants, what she is gonna do when she gets it is debatable but she will stop at noting to get it. She is a strong women and Pinto plays that so well, yet again her transformation is astounding as it took me 20 minutes to recognize her. She is truly a force to be reckoned with in this picture, she is a hard driving, fast shooting and fearsome femme fatale. The likes of which we don’t see too often and Freida Pinto was pretty damn outstanding in this film.

I would be remiss if I failed to mention that Mickey Rourke was in this picture. I won’t say too much about him but when he appears he is almost like a gun toting guru with an interesting take on the world around him and the world he has made for himself. Rourke was perfect for this role as the master duelist. He brings this unspoken level to the character that is hard to quantify and it’s just fantastic.

In the end this is a quiet film, you’re going to want to sit down chill out and just get sucked into this beautiful piece of art. All the while enjoying its scenery, its sets, its amazing score, wonderful direction and stellar cast. This film really crept up on me but I loved every minute of it and I barely noticed the time go by. One thing I will say in closing is that the trailer does not do this film justice.

Blunt Force Trauma will be released in the UK by 101 Films to DVD and Digital on October 5th 2015.