A woman captured by unknown assailants and forced to fight for her life. That’s an old, old cliché. Now, what if we give her some fellow prisoners for help? The plot twist is, one is the man who raped her years ago. The other is the person who provided his alibi. That’s the plot of 3 Lives from director Juliane Block and co-writer Wolf-Peter Arand.

Emma (Mhairi Calvey, Robert The Bruce, Virus Of The Dead) is a therapist. We first see her talking to a client about alternatives to violence against somebody who attacked them. So we know she’ll soon be forced to deal out some pain. And not five minutes later she’s abducted. By the ten minute mark, she’s being freed from a cage by Ben (Tyron Ricketts) and Jamie (Martin Kaps) who’ve recently gotten free. She immediately recognizes Ben as the man who raped her fifteen years before. But with no other option, she goes with them.

Now they’re on the run in the woods with three mercenaries chasing them. Why have they been abducted and by whom?

The first half of 3 Lives wants to be a thriller but it falls flat. The hunters prove to be fairly inept. Even when they recapture one of the prisoners he’s soon rescued. Most of the time they just sit around and smoke. The escapees aren’t much better, they hide in a cave and bicker constantly.

The second half tries to work up a different kind of tension. It’s suggested that Ben may not have been her attacker and was set up. It’s also made clear that attack is the motivation for what’s happening. But we don’t know what that motivation is. It builds up a bit more tension than the opening act, but it’s still pretty weak.

3 Lives was “influenced by true events” that happened to the director. I have my doubts she was chased around the woods by psycho mercs. But just what those events were isn’t made clear. I’m assuming it means she was the victim of a sexual assault, but she doesn’t do a very good job of conveying the horrors of the act. The voice-over at the end doesn’t help matters either. If you’re up for a rape/revenge film you’ll do better with Streets Of Vengeance, 3: An Eye For An Eye, Revenge or even I Spit On Your Grave: Deja Vu.

3 Lives premieres on DVD and Digital August 6th from High Octane Pictures. You can check for any updates on the films website and Facebook page.