"doesn’t make for a particularly memorable or entirely original production, but one that works in its own way"

Much like with Spike Lee’s very different film Inside Man, there is something of a clue as to the central conceit of the plot within the title of Steve Jones’s Point of Death. It’s less of a spoiler and more of a clue as to the nature of the downward spiral in which Alex (David O’Hara) finds himself descending.

The film opens with exhaustive towering shots of London while philosophical voiceover from Alex muses on the nature of life and death before driving home to his loving wife Claudia (Lisa Gormley) and daughter Anna (Isabelle Allen).

All is not quite well though, as a strange storm approaches, Claudia has a breakdown and the family become isolated in their home, stalked by an odd sinister presence and other unexplained phenomenon. It’s a blend of fantasy, horror and mystery creating a psychological and apocalyptic family drama.

For a time, the film become a prolonged central set-piece and the initial lack of answers as to the central mystery does create distance for the viewer. It helps that O’Hara, our eyes and ears, is a reliable enough lead but there are demands imposed on the audience.

When answers eventually unveil themselves, there is little by way of surprise but an emotional resonance that oddly does work despite the horror overtones that were so prevalent earlier on. It doesn’t make for a particularly memorable or entirely original production, but one that works in its own way, eventually.