Exposure

Alongside his excellent and chilling shortA Child's Voice, Exposure demonstrates that Hickey is an Irish director of considerable power and assurance who seems intent on making the most of the tradition in Celtic fiction for quiet and subtle terror. Set on the desolate west coast of Ireland, the film explores a Polanski-like plot in which three surveyors find themselves stuck in a remote hotel with a French girl photographer. There are a few unsuccessful moments (notably a jarring beach-montage sequence), but in general the tone is deft and sharp, and the use of the tiny hotel bar to convey accumulating tension is masterly.