'Calibre'

Under the artful direction of Matt Palmer Calibre is a British film shot among the beautiful scenery of the Scottish Highlands. Its official outing happened at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, 2018. Shortly thereafter, it debuted on Netflix in the horror genre.

Two long-time friends have planned a last bromance type weekend before one, Vaughn, is to wed his pregnant fiancée. The film is ominous from the first words uttered, "Don't go" Vaughn's girlfriend says to him as they lie closely in bed saying their goodbyes. Shortly thereafter, Vaughn and his best buddy Marcus engage in light banter as they drive down long and winding roads with magnificent landscapes looming large in the background. Their conversation brings to mind characters from Trainspotting (1996) with talk of "...finally having sex with a woman, while she's awake." Later it comes out that Marcus has cocaine in his possession, "I am on holiday!" he says in his own defense. This is important because it suggests that Marcus is the alpha male of the pair, somewhat of a bully and used to getting his way.

Most of the time Marcus leads the discussions by steering them in certain directions. When the tension is extremely high Marcus and Vaughn seem to communicate only with their eyes.

The beautiful mountains with rolling valleys and dense forestry belie what will transpire deep in the woods that stretch for many miles.

When Vaughn is asked how he feels about becoming a dad he expresses it as "terrifying." It's not nearly as terrifying as what he is about to experience over the next few hours.

When one person is shot, it can be considered an accident. Two, well, then maybe not. What initially happened was an accident, plain and simple. It probably would have been accepted as such had the prior choices not been made.

Looking closely, a flash of blue can be seen a nano-second before the first fatal shot is fired or right as the shot is fired. The deer in the crosshairs is not shot, a person is. Vaughn was ill prepared to take a shot at anything in the first place. He meekly voiced that concern to Marcus, who bullied him into taking the shot anyway.

Mistakes abound on the parts of the two main characters, Vaughn and Marcus. The biggest one being that they felt confident they could, in fact, get away with what they'd done without consequences. Another was Marcus allowing Vaughn to use his rifle to take the shot in the first place. Vaughn had forgotten the ammunition for his firearm back at the hotel, at which point Marcus said, "Here, use mine!"

The assumption that the victims were tourists was another gross error. As it turned out, both victims were deeply connected to the community of Culcarran, where the dreadful events had taken place and where Marcus and Vaughn were staying for the weekend.

Once the cover-up begins, it takes one lie after another to keep it covered, but to no avail, because deception is futile.

Returning to the scene of the shooting in the dead of night to wrap up what they think are loose ends, is very unsettling. It is not only dark in the sense that it was night time, but the fact that Marcus had decided to perform a deed so dark and so dastardly, that it is beyond the pale.

It is during this time that Marcus removes all doubt in Vaughn's mind as to whether he would kill him if he had to.

Later in the film, after things began to unravel so quickly that the pair barely had time to get their lies straight—Marcus tries his best to convince Vaughn that everything he's done was the right thing to do.

"I did it to protect you, to protect us!" What he's really fishing for is validation—for everything.

But it's too late. Vaughn has a mind of his own and he tells Marcus, "You know you were wrong or you wouldn't ask." He also emphasizes "We were wrong!"—accepting his share of the blame in the debacle. By that time, things are happening at breakneck speed, so much so, the pair can barely keep up with events as they unfold.

Then, due to circumstances beyond their control, the pair is forced to stay for the bonfire celebration about to take place in town. Actually, a search party has been formed to look for the missing hikers. Now, they have become reluctant participants to aid in the search.

There is no easy way for them to back out of it.

When they did decide to back out, things were way past the point of no return. Perhaps, if they hadn't run when they did they could have continued the charade a little longer.

Several unexpected events are what makes this film so compelling. There are things that surprised the pair, plus, there were the many mistakes they made along the way that did nothing to aid in the cover-up.

In the end, justice is served and it is swift.

In the final eye communication scene, both men are resolute and have accepted the inevitable.

The film begs the questions "What becomes of a man who must learn to live with the evil he has committed? What does he perpetuate in the world with his dark deeds?"

It must be excruciating trying to settle into a normal life. That's for sure.

Calibre classified as horror—is a new blend of horror/thriller which highlights the nature of man to cover his bad deeds, feeling confident the consequences can be avoided.

The films final scene... is the scariest scene of all.