A chainsaw, a masked attacker, and a 'self-defense test' that goes very wrong.
Girls boarding school in the remote Scottish Highlands, 1986. Reg is a lonely 15 year old girl, who stares longingly out of her dorm window at the chainsaw wielding tree surgeon working in the school grounds. Reg and her classmates have to take part in a self defense exercise - The Attack Test. Alone, Reg must walk through the woods until she is attacked by her masked teacher, Mike, at which point she must defend herself using force. This is intended as real life preparation for these privileged and inexperienced women living in an isolated world where rape paranoia was rife. Full of trepidation, Reg walks into the woods where Mike is waiting, but the test does not go according to plan.
Cinematography
Misty Highland forests that breathe with dread.
Acting
Ewen Bremner's masked menace without dialogue.
Director
Martin Clark
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The 'Attack Test' mirrors real 1980s UK self-defense programs for women, which critics argued normalized female vulnerability rather than addressing male violence.
The film's 4:3 Academy ratio cages Reg even in open landscapes; her final look outward reclaims the frame itself.
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