I really wish this were executed better. (SPOILERS)

The finale was very well done. Putting her in a crate, then sealing that crate, then moving that crate to a shipping container, then moving that container to the top of a stack of containers on a freight headed to Asia, then ending the movie without music was an extremely effective way to make me dwell on the horror of the slave trade.

That said, the rest of the movie was unbearable. Here's a laundry list of infuriating cliches that indicate that the crew responsible for this movie are not experienced at making thrillers (they probably are experienced at participating in the modern abolitionist movement, though):

1. The characters were 100% horror-genre archetypes:
- The impulsive girl who completely wigs out when there's trouble
- The hot-headed little guy who generally gets the group in more trouble than is necessary
- The calm, rational nice guy who is the perfect complement to the most outrageous cliche of all...
- ...the cool-headed, loyal good girl who's in control of her life and all situations in the movie. But, she has a pretty significant blemish on her past, so we can feel for her a bit. She routinely plays strong, determined counterpoint to the rest of the group's doubtful panic, and she consistently gives us the impression that she's just sick of the bad guy's bull crap.
- The bad guy who pretends to be a pussy and then pulls a 180 into the weird, unpredictable dangerous member of the team of bad guys (really, it's the nature of the 180 that stuck out as the cliche to me)
- The calculating but amateurish bad guy who's in it for the money and sort of regrets the harm he causes others. But, he's still despicable because he values his own welfare over the lives of others.

2. Their cell phones don't work on the shuttle. I know, everyone brings that one up against horror movies. But, I really think this movie needed a better reason. Hell, they could have just pointed out that the driver installed a signal scrambler aboard the shuttle or something. I'd have believed that. The biggest reason I feel this way is that this movie is nothing below its surface (no symbolism, metaphor, or other elements of allegory were present at all). It's a straightforward depiction of realistic events leading up to enslavement, so the movie should do a better job making its events explicable.

3. The bad guy kept resurrecting himself. Oh man, that trick happens in every horror and thriller made in the '70s, '80s and '90s. I no longer think this trick is suspenseful or otherwise effective at doing anything.

4. One victim gets away and gets rescued. Then, the bad guy makes a sudden appearance to kill the rescuer and recapture the victim. The only thing that would have been worse is if the rescuer ended up being a bad guy.

I did think the actors did a great job. I especially liked the 180-villain's performance.

I also thought the idea of sending Mel to the grocery store was very clever. In both cases, the writers killed the guys off in very clever ways that ensured that neither of the girls were hurt in the process.