‘Till Death’ can’t escape the ole ball and chain

In “Till Death,” Emma (Megan Fox) can’t escape the old ball and chain, Mark (Eoin Macken) … and that’s before she wakes up handcuffed to his corpse. This horror-thriller blends “Gerald’s Game,” “Saw” and a home-invasion thriller. Its minimalist impulses serve it well; it’s effortless to sit through.

Minimalist, but also reductionist

But its reductionist impulses hold it back. We never see Mark as anything but evil, making one wonder why Emma married him. If a woman marries an evil man because he’s rich, I can’t sympathize with her plight. But I think director S.K. Dale and writer Jason Carvey intend that we do.

Or perhaps they’re saying that young women marrying rich men, then finding their lives to be empty, is a common problem.

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At a loveless 11^th anniversary dinner, Emma sees a young woman accept a marriage proposal from an older man across the restaurant. Emma then finds the woman crying in the restroom, and presumes to tell the woman about the concept of divorce. Over-identify much?

But in the world of cinema, Emma’s assessment of this marriage based on two pieces of information (a proposal and crying) is probably spot-on.

“Till Death’s” bluntness carries to its characters. Emma’s lover (Aml Ameen) and the home invaders (Callan Mulvey and Jack Roth) are also one-note, although the criminal brothers do have some spark.

Beautiful day for a home invasion

In the plus column, the film looks nice, first with a melancholy big city at night and then with a lake cabin surrounded by snow.

“Till Death” is competent on a basic genre level: Emma plausibly dodges her enemies between the house, the boathouse and the garage. The logistical reasons why she can’t escape are believable enough that we don’t yell at the screen.

And it’s filled with things you don’t see in any ole horror-thriller. Being chained to a corpse is unusual enough. But when Emma is still dragging it around deep into the film, we’re almost in dark comedy territory. Dale chooses to not lean into this, but I almost wish he had.

Just another day in a bad marriage

Fox seems to be trying to expand her acting chops with this role that’s about immediate, intense emotions. However, she plays it understated. Emma has been so beaten down by her awful marriage that this is just another day.

Indeed, Mark is so awful that I’m surprised Emma doesn’t celebrate upon finding him deceased. Except for the pesky handcuff, she’s free.

By the end, “Till Death” has given us a feel for why she didn’t divorce him: sheer inertia. With each insane challenge Emma duly faces down, the story becomes a metaphor for getting too deep into a bad relationship.

That’s the kindest way to look at “Till Death”: a universal metaphor for a bad marriage. If you think too much about Emma and Mark as people, the reality cracks like thin ice.

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