Shut In Review

Nov 11

Written By Rendy Jones

Preview

PG13: Terror and Some Violence/Bloody Images, Nudity, Thematic Elements and Brief Strong Language

EuropaCorp, Transfilm, Lava Bear Films

1 Hr and 31 Minutes

Cast: Naomi Watts, Oliver Platt, Charlie Heaton, David Cubitt, Jacob Tremblay

REVIEW: Naomi Watts is a very talented actress who is so great to see onscreen. And Charlie Heaton from Stranger Things? Oh wow, they’re in a movie together? Good for you Heaton, you did such a great job in Stranger Things, and now you’re in a film with Watts. Huge step up! Aw, and you have Jacob Tremblay one of the most powerful child actors in Hollywood today. Oh boy, this is going to be a great movie! Wait this is a EuroCorp release? Luc Besson’s EuroCorp? The studio that released cinematic crap-terpieces such as Transporter Refueled and Nine Lives? That EuroCorp? And it’s a thriller? Oh God.

Following a recent accident that took the life of her husband and left her son paralyzed, a psychologist (Naomi Watts) finds herself isolated in her own home caring for her child. Cut off from the outside world during a deadly storm, she starts to believe someone is inside her house trying to harm them.

THE GOOD: Uh it's short. It never feels like a long movie. It never even feels like a movie. The only good thing really about the film is the performances of Naomi Watts and Oliver Platt. That’s it. That’s all I got.

THE BAD: EuroCorp your bad streak of releases is still going strong because Shut In is one of the most generically dumbest thrillers since Universal's 2015 thriller The Boy Next Door. The movie goes through the blueprint of thriller 101 that dates all the way back to Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. With Psycho you had a film that was new and original at the time that pushed the boundary for filmmaking. In 2016 a film like that would be just trite and lazy which this is. Just think of Psycho with a “paralyzed” Charlie Heaton. The movie lacks any surprises that you see in thrillers and is cinematically televised that it's "thrilling" elements comes off unintentionally hilarious.

To make matters easier I’m just going to spoil the film for you to not waste your time teasing who’s haunting Naomi Watts. It’s her son Charlie Heaton who wasn’t paralyzed the entire time. It tries to be a horror/thriller but nothing in this movie is horrific or thrilling. Every time the film wants to get you scared it relies on the lowest common dominator factor; blares. Every time the film wants to scare you it uses the power of blares. Raccoon is going through your trashcan? BLARE! Does someone put their hand over your mouth where you see it coming? BLARE! Someone gets stabbed? BLARE! It never works at all unless you haven't seen a thriller in 20 years then by all means.

Overall the film is just so extremely stupid. Whenever Heaton is attacking Naomi Watts, she hits him with various items from a bat to a frying pan. AND SHE DOESN’T DOUBLE TAP! And he just instantly gets up like the hits weren’t even anything. Everything in the story is so by the numbers that by the time you reach the end you will feel ripped off that you’ve seen generic thriller that you expect better of anything of the cast to be in.

The film has Charlie Heaton Dane Dehaaning his way to come across creepy where he comes off unintentionally hysterical. He is creepy in Stranger Things, but here it doesn’t feel like him. It’s not Charlie Heaton playing this teenager but you feel as if they wanted to cast Dane Dehaan but he was unavailable at the time. When he’s putting in all in the role of Jonathon in Stranger things he does great because of the material the Duffer Brothers gave him to work with. Here. even to an extent to Oliver Platt, he has nothing to work with. Even when you have Jacob Tremblay who is hot right now, he is just there for the means of the plot that really never comes to fruition. He has no lines of dialogue at all which is unfortunate because his role could be filled by any other kid beside him. He is incredibly wasted in this role for he is just there to run around and hide.

LAST STATEMENT: Though she does a relatively well job not even Naomi Watts can save Shut In, a cheaply filmed and lazily generic excuse for a thriller that should be shut out of your viewing.

Rating: 0.5/5 | 17%