Octane (film)
Encyclopedia
Octane is a 2002
thriller film directed by Marcus Adams
and starring Madeleine Stowe
and Mischa Barton
. The story follows Senga Wilson, a recently divorce
d woman, trying to save her 15-year-old daughter Natasha from a bizarre cult obsessed with blood and cars.
There, Nat meets The Backpacker (Bijou Phillips
) and offers her a ride. Senga is visibly disturbed by The Backpacker and the strange ambient
CD she plays in the car. They drop her at a picnic area and when they return seconds later to return the CD she left in the car, she appears to have disappeared.
Shortly after, Nat convinces her mother to return to the diner, so that she can get her birthday present from Marek. Already stressed from the long drive, Senga is furious when she discovers that Marek has bought Nat tickets to a concert that she has refused to allow her to attend. After a heated argument, Nat gets into an RV with The Backpacker and a strange couple.
Senga solicits the assistance of a police officer, but when she seems unhelpful, goes after the RV herself tailing the officer who had just left the diner.
When she catches up with the group, she breaks into their RV and discovers a number of strange and horrifying things, including thermoses full of blood and videos of young girls talking about their past lives. She escapes the RV before anyone returns, but when they get back on the road, The Backpacker reveals herself to be hiding in the backseat. She strangles Senga and causes her to crash.
In the back of an oil tanker, Nat parties with The Backpacker and a young man, who tell her about their group and their enigmatic leader.
Senga is woken by The Recovery Man (Norman Reedus
), a disturbed drifter who cruises highways in his tow truck, who insists that Senga come with him. In his car, she finds a picture of a girl she saw in a video in the RV. The Recovery Man informs Senga that the girl is Christine, his dead sister.
Senga is taken to a police station, where she reports Nat's disappearance. The police are less than helpful, and, in frustration, Senga asks them to call Marek. The man who answers Marek's mobile is not Senga's ex-husband, but The Father (Jonathan Rhys-Myers), the cult's leader; he tells the police that Senga is on medication, and that Nat has been with him all weekend.
After a series of outbursts and hallucination
s, Senga encounters three of the cult members and follows them to an abandoned research facility. Here, she encounters the Recovery Man again.
While Nat meets the Father, The Recovery Man sets off one of his bombs, killing most of the cult members. Before The Father can initiate Nat, Senga attacks him. Mother and daughter flee in different directions, with Senga being pursued by The Backpacker and Nat being placated by The Father, who uses a loudspeaker to talk to her. During the fight, The Father reveals that Senga wanted to have an abortion
when she discovered she was pregnant with Nat. The shock of this revelation leaves Senga in a near catatonic state.
The Recovery Man pulls her out of her stupor by showing her Marek's body. Senga uses this information to demonstrate to Nat how evil her new friends are. While mother and daughter try to escape, The Recovery Man and The Father wrestle; when The Father bites The Recovery Man's tongue and spits it out, Senga detonates his last bomb, killing them both.
Mother and daughter continue their drive home, but when they stop at a gas station, they return to their car to find razor blades — The Father's calling card — attached to the rear view mirror.
features techno, ambient
and ambient industrial music by Orbital
.
2002 in film
The year 2002 in film involved some significant events. The first significant releases of sequels took place between The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Men in Black II, Analyze That, Spy Kids 2: The Island of...
thriller film directed by Marcus Adams
Marcus Adams
Marcus Adams is a British film director. Marcus has produced successful music videos, award-winning advertisements and complete feature films....
and starring Madeleine Stowe
Madeleine Stowe
Madeleine Mora Stowe is an American actress. She rose to prominence appearing in films such as Stakeout, Revenge, Unlawful Entry, The Last of the Mohicans, Blink, China Moon, 12 Monkeys, and We Were Soldiers...
and Mischa Barton
Mischa Barton
Mischa Anne Marsden Barton is a British-American fashion model, film, television, and stage actress, best known for her role as Marissa Cooper in the American television series The O.C..-Early life:...
. The story follows Senga Wilson, a recently divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
d woman, trying to save her 15-year-old daughter Natasha from a bizarre cult obsessed with blood and cars.
Plot
Single mother Senga (Stowe) and her 15-year-old daughter Nat (Barton) are on a six-hour drive home, following a visit to Marek, Nat's father, for her birthday. After the occurrence of several eerie incidents, Senga decides to stop at a highway diner.There, Nat meets The Backpacker (Bijou Phillips
Bijou Phillips
Bijou Lilly Phillips is an American actress, model, and singer. Phillips began her career as a model but soon transitioned herself into acting and singing. When she was 13, she started as a model and became one of the youngest people to grace the cover of Interview Magazine and Italian Vogue....
) and offers her a ride. Senga is visibly disturbed by The Backpacker and the strange ambient
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
CD she plays in the car. They drop her at a picnic area and when they return seconds later to return the CD she left in the car, she appears to have disappeared.
Shortly after, Nat convinces her mother to return to the diner, so that she can get her birthday present from Marek. Already stressed from the long drive, Senga is furious when she discovers that Marek has bought Nat tickets to a concert that she has refused to allow her to attend. After a heated argument, Nat gets into an RV with The Backpacker and a strange couple.
Senga solicits the assistance of a police officer, but when she seems unhelpful, goes after the RV herself tailing the officer who had just left the diner.
When she catches up with the group, she breaks into their RV and discovers a number of strange and horrifying things, including thermoses full of blood and videos of young girls talking about their past lives. She escapes the RV before anyone returns, but when they get back on the road, The Backpacker reveals herself to be hiding in the backseat. She strangles Senga and causes her to crash.
In the back of an oil tanker, Nat parties with The Backpacker and a young man, who tell her about their group and their enigmatic leader.
Senga is woken by The Recovery Man (Norman Reedus
Norman Reedus
Norman Mark Reedus is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his portrayal as Murphy MacManus in the 1999 film The Boondock Saints as well as its 2009 sequel The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day and for the character of Daryl Dixon in the AMC television series The Walking Dead...
), a disturbed drifter who cruises highways in his tow truck, who insists that Senga come with him. In his car, she finds a picture of a girl she saw in a video in the RV. The Recovery Man informs Senga that the girl is Christine, his dead sister.
Senga is taken to a police station, where she reports Nat's disappearance. The police are less than helpful, and, in frustration, Senga asks them to call Marek. The man who answers Marek's mobile is not Senga's ex-husband, but The Father (Jonathan Rhys-Myers), the cult's leader; he tells the police that Senga is on medication, and that Nat has been with him all weekend.
After a series of outbursts and hallucination
Hallucination
A hallucination, in the broadest sense of the word, is a perception in the absence of a stimulus. In a stricter sense, hallucinations are defined as perceptions in a conscious and awake state in the absence of external stimuli which have qualities of real perception, in that they are vivid,...
s, Senga encounters three of the cult members and follows them to an abandoned research facility. Here, she encounters the Recovery Man again.
While Nat meets the Father, The Recovery Man sets off one of his bombs, killing most of the cult members. Before The Father can initiate Nat, Senga attacks him. Mother and daughter flee in different directions, with Senga being pursued by The Backpacker and Nat being placated by The Father, who uses a loudspeaker to talk to her. During the fight, The Father reveals that Senga wanted to have an abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
when she discovered she was pregnant with Nat. The shock of this revelation leaves Senga in a near catatonic state.
The Recovery Man pulls her out of her stupor by showing her Marek's body. Senga uses this information to demonstrate to Nat how evil her new friends are. While mother and daughter try to escape, The Recovery Man and The Father wrestle; when The Father bites The Recovery Man's tongue and spits it out, Senga detonates his last bomb, killing them both.
Mother and daughter continue their drive home, but when they stop at a gas station, they return to their car to find razor blades — The Father's calling card — attached to the rear view mirror.
The Wilsons
- Madeleine StoweMadeleine StoweMadeleine Mora Stowe is an American actress. She rose to prominence appearing in films such as Stakeout, Revenge, Unlawful Entry, The Last of the Mohicans, Blink, China Moon, 12 Monkeys, and We Were Soldiers...
as Senga Wilson. - Mischa BartonMischa BartonMischa Anne Marsden Barton is a British-American fashion model, film, television, and stage actress, best known for her role as Marissa Cooper in the American television series The O.C..-Early life:...
as Natasha 'Nat' Wilson, Senga's daughter. - Samuel FrölerSamuel FrölerSamuel Fröler is a Swedish actor. His break-through was in the TV series Tre Kärlekar in 1989. He played the protagonist in the soap opera Skärgårdsdoktorn, and has also acted in several movies. Fröler did the voice of Shrek when Shrek 2 was dubbed into Swedish. He also had a part in the American...
as Marek, Senga's ex-husband and Natasha's father.
The Cultists
- Jonathan Rhys Meyers as The Father, the cult's leader
- Bijou PhillipsBijou PhillipsBijou Lilly Phillips is an American actress, model, and singer. Phillips began her career as a model but soon transitioned herself into acting and singing. When she was 13, she started as a model and became one of the youngest people to grace the cover of Interview Magazine and Italian Vogue....
as the Backpacker - Leo GregoryLeo GregoryLeo Gregory is an English film and television actor. He has appeared in many films such as Green Street, Stoned, Act of Grace, Daylight Robbery, and Menace....
as Joyrider - Gary Parker and Amber Batty as the vacationing couple
- Jenny JulesJenny JulesJenny Jules is an award-winning English actress of stage and screen. She started her acting career as a member of the youth theatre program at the Tricycle Theatre in Kilburn, London...
as highway patrol sergeant - Patrick O'Kane as the trucker
- Stephen LordStephen LordStephen Lord is a British actor probably best known for playing Jase Dyer, in BBC soap opera EastEnders between 2007-2008.- Personal life :...
as Carjacker - Sarah Drews as Christine
Others
- Norman ReedusNorman ReedusNorman Mark Reedus is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his portrayal as Murphy MacManus in the 1999 film The Boondock Saints as well as its 2009 sequel The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day and for the character of Daryl Dixon in the AMC television series The Walking Dead...
as the Recovery man, Christine's brother - Martin MCDougallMartin McDougallMartin McDougall is an actor best known to US audiences for his role as the Tleilaxu Face Dancer Scytale in the Sci Fi Channel's 2003 miniseries Frank Herbert's Children of Dune.-External links:...
as Motivational Speaker - Shauna ShimShauna Shim-Early days:Shim was raised in Nottingham, England, and trained at the Carlton Television Workshop alongside other actors such as Samantha Morton, Toby Kebbell, and Bafta award-winning director, Julian Kemp...
and David Menkin as paramedics - Nigel WhitmeyNigel WhitmeyNigel Whitmey is a British Canadian-born actor who was born in Alberta, Canada, who has appeared in TV series and films. He is also the husband of the actress Abigail Thaw, whom he met whilst training at RADA.-Early life:...
as Detective Ned Stephens - Dean Gregory as a Christian missionary
- Raffaello Degruttola and Glenn Wrage as highway patrol cops
- Monika Hudgins as Southern woman
- Cesar Bayona Pinto as Latino busboy
- Véronique Koch and Ase Dunbar as Cashiers
- Nicolette Christie and Emma Drews as the teenage girl
- Tom Hunsiger as Crime Scene Investigator
- Sam DouglasSam DouglasSam Douglas is an American actor best known for his role as private detective Scott Shelby in PlayStation 3 game Heavy Rain. He has had several other roles in films and on stages...
as Crash site detective - Rachel PollackRachel PollackRachel Pollack is an American science fiction author, comic book writer, and expert on divinatory tarot...
as NEW GIRL
Production
- Barton had her belly button pierced especially for her part in this movie, but let it heal up again once filming was completed.
Music
Octane's soundtrackOctane (OST)
Octane is a soundtrack composed by Orbital for horror road movie Octane and features 14 tracks. It was released by EMI in 2003.-Track listing:# "Octane"# "Through the Night"# "Strangeness in the Night"# "Preacher"# "Moments of Crisis"# "Frantic"...
features techno, ambient
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
and ambient industrial music by Orbital
Orbital (band)
Orbital are a British electronic dance music duo from Sevenoaks, England consisting of brothers Phil and Paul Hartnoll. Their career initially ran from 1989 until 2004, but in 2009 they announced that they would be reforming and headlining The Big Chill, in addition to a number of other live shows...
.