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(2006) ***

Five men wake up in an industrial warehouse in the middle of the desert. The five have no recollection of who they are nor do they recall the events leading up to this predicament. One man is hanging by his wrist chained to a wall; another is bound to a chair. Two are free and the fifth man has a broken nose. Evidence suggests that their short-term memory lose is due to a gas leak from a canister that was dislodged during a violent scuffle. The men piece together enough information to realize that two of them were abducted and being held for ransom while the 3 others are part of a kidnapping ring. But who are the kidnappers and who are the abducted? Because of the gas leak the answers to these questions remain elusive. Adding to the turmoil is the serendipitous knowledge that other kidnappers from the ring are on route to the warehouse to finish off the abducted. Without the knowledge of who is who in this scenario, the 5 have to decide whom they can trust. Loyalties switch faster than Anakin’s turn to the dark side.

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As time goes on each of the men experiences brief bursts of memory that help them with their identities. The true story eventually comes out as the 5 prepare, Home Alone-style, to deal with the returning kidnappers. A final twist at the end is interesting but ultimately would have been better served earlier rather than as a “gotcha”-ending grabber.

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Imagine me clapping very slowly. Unknown turned out to be a lot of fun! Although the “predicament” strongly echoes SAW, the solution doesn’t come easily and just when you think you have things figured out something happens to shake up your theories. As noted above there are one too many “twists” but overall this is a good movie with a solid cast including James Caviezel, Greg Kinnear, and Joe Pantoliano.