Hmmmmmm. Tough to know what to do with this one. It might be the most deeply flawed of flawed gems.
A captivity/pursuit flick that doesn't really have any captivity or pursuit until at least 2/3 of the way through its runtime. The director described it as "a home invasion flick without the home" but in truth it barely has the invasion, either. That's a good thing.
A struggling couple, their marriage crumbling and deep anxiety setting in as shown through flashbacks, has been evicted from their home and is spending their night in their car, parked on a darkened street outside a country club in the nice part of town. Slowly, tension builds, and it takes well over half the movie before we see someone is indeed messing with them. Someone leaves a note saying "don't park here" on their windshield... but it may be a nearby homeless person giving them friendly advice about the police. Eventually real villains show up... first slapping a boot on their car while they doze, then sending a drone to watch them, then physically attacking them and worse.
But, I have to say, it could have been an ordinary captivity/pursuit flick, and it's not. I expected them to be trapped in the car and physically menaced for most of it, but the villains don't even show up in person—if they are there at all—until late in the picture. Decent production and performances help, too.
But then there's a confusing ending that clouds, rather than explains, the reasons why this all happened, and we're left with a disappointing sense of "because, movie".
Along the way it intends to be a commentary on the stresses of modern American life and the stresses of financial insecurity, and even opens with a sarcastic George Carlin take on the "American Dream", in case anybody doesn't get the point. I even saw a review where someone claimed the attackers didn't really exist, they were just intended to be manifestations of the wife's anxiety. I think the movie clearly shows, in the confusing ending, that they did really exist, but I could see how the argument could otherwise be made. The three attackers are even wearing red, white, and blue masks, respectively.
Then, there's an enjoyable coda that twists the knife well, and shows the very society that these people have flunked out of going about its day with an unknowing callousness about the carnage happening right outside their country club fence.
So, a bit of a mess. Definitely a cut above the subgenre in a way that I sort of respect. Can't decide if I liked it or not. I definitely liked it relative to the subgenre, which I almost never like at all.
The writer/director praises director Ti West, whose movies I loathe, in an interview, but I might say he's picked up on the things that make West's movies popular despite their massive failings, without duplicating their failings. Maybe. I dunno. I don't like to praise Ti West.
Hmmmmmmmmm.
I'm going to mark this one "watchable", even though it's definitely not likely to be enjoyable to anyone who isn't a horror fan, and, not likely to be enjoyable to most horror fans, since it's such a very slow burn and so little actually happens until late in the movie. Not a lot of blood and guts here compared to a lot of horror movies, for sure, which is refreshing. Let's say this one just barely creeps over the watchability line for its strong points, even though it falls far short of it for its weak points.
See all movie reviews...
