No spoilers! I think? What’s a spoiler?
Haha! I saw the movie before most of you reading this! One of my friends found out about a pre-showing (word?) that we decided to go to because why not. Seeing horror movies at 9:45 is always a fantastic idea, because there’s nothing creepier than a flooded urinal directly afterwards.
Actually, we started off the night by sitting in the wrong movie for a few minutes and watching an animated cartoon about a bear and some blue animal. Or maybe it was a blue bear. I don’t remember; it was late.
The movie itself was one of the best I’ve seen this year. Where will it stack up on the all-time list of cool movies David Kummer has seen and reviewed? No idea. I did see an awesome trailer right before it… so that’s exciting. And no, it wasn’t for Avengers: Endgame. Nobody cares.
Without any more bantering (already at 147 words HAH) here’s my review.
Good
Plot Twist
This kind of goes with the bullet point below, but it can’t be overstated how smooth and understandable the twists were, and yet entirely surprising. There are very few movies that leave me going “What the heck is happening?” even one time, and this film did it at least four. When the movie ended, with yet another plot twist, we all kind of sat there… looked at each other for a few minutes… and then stood up and left.
Constant Mystery
The mystery sprinkled, no poured, throughout the movie really are what make the plot twists so exciting. There are so many questions that came to my mind during the experience, I’m still not entirely sure I understand. This is one of those movies that I’ll rewatch multiple times to try and fully grasp the ending.
Acting
The actors in this movie were fantastic. I expected that, seeing as the one main woman was in Black Panther. (I apologize for not knowing any names. I only now Harrison Ford.) Not only was she fantastic as the main role, but the two actors playing her children were equally skilled. And of course, the husband, who serves as a sort of comedic relief during the intense, 90-minute long conflict. (See below.)
Bad
Boring Reveal (not boring material)
What does that mean? Well, most of the questions all come together in one big answer, a kind of speech that lasts around five minutes. While what’s revealed in this scene is fascinating, I wasn’t particularly impressed with how it happened, or more specifically how it was revealed. Oh well. This didn’t bother me as much as the bullet point below.
Weird buildup/action ratio
There’s always a moment in a horror movie where it goes from character introduction and buildup to a full-fledged good-vs-bad train of events. Most times, there isn’t a big confrontation with deaths and actual consequences until about 30 mins left. This movie, on the other hand, spent the last 90 minutes in that situation. I got tired of the suspense because of how long everything was drawn out. Maybe that’s just me being used to a 90 minute horror movie, whereas this one lasted a bit longer, but it is what it is.
Overall
Well, it probably helps that I never saw Get Out (leave me alone) and so I didn’t have anything to compare the director’s work too. Jordan something? I do no research, as you can tell. Jordan Michael? Anyways. I think appreciating this movie for what it is, instead of comparing it to others, certainly helped. I also enjoyed having a cast that was a majority of minority (mainly black) actors. It was a fresh change, and made a horror movie that was already unique even more so. Without a doubt, there was nothing cliche about this film, and that’s something I can always appreciate. In the end, there were a few distractions, but I liked the overall work and will watch out for this director in the future (once I learn his name). One of the most suspenseful films I’ve ever seen.
David Kummer 