This movie lives by its many plot twists and by abruptly cutting away from moments that would give too much away. This leaves some of the characters' actions appearing to be a bit dumb in the moment, although they make much more sense when the final plot twist is revealed. It's an original and largely successful bit of storytelling. And if you like a taut and twisty story, it's worth sticking with until the end.
The thing this movie most lacks is a character that I was really rooting for. I suppose that the most sympathetic character is the mother, played by Helen Hunt. Unfortunately, she isn't much of a force in the story for most of the the film, and is nowhere to be seen in the climax. She's really more of a viewpoint than a full character.
The father, Greg, seems like the world's least suspecting police detective. His wife tells him that all of the silverware has disappeared from their house, he notices that pictures have gone missing from their frames, he's locked in a closet by. . . someone. . . and he's also told that a repairman who came to the house has reported being let in by a well-behaved young woman (when there is no such person living in their household) and his only reaction seems to be, "Huh. I guess stuff happens sometimes."
As a detective, he did not come across as a credible character. But then, as it turns out, he's got a lot of other things on his mind.
I know that a lot of obvious stuff that goes unsaid between our main characters is supposed to be because it's a dysfunctional family where everyone is angry with everyone else, but there's a limit to how far you can push this. These people let an awful lot of very strange stuff just slide.
One last, small complaint: Enough with the drone shots, already. I know that it's a great way to make a low-budget movie look like a million bucks, but I'll be glad when the infatuation with this new technology dies down a little.
The thing this movie most lacks is a character that I was really rooting for. I suppose that the most sympathetic character is the mother, played by Helen Hunt. Unfortunately, she isn't much of a force in the story for most of the the film, and is nowhere to be seen in the climax. She's really more of a viewpoint than a full character.
The father, Greg, seems like the world's least suspecting police detective. His wife tells him that all of the silverware has disappeared from their house, he notices that pictures have gone missing from their frames, he's locked in a closet by. . . someone. . . and he's also told that a repairman who came to the house has reported being let in by a well-behaved young woman (when there is no such person living in their household) and his only reaction seems to be, "Huh. I guess stuff happens sometimes."
As a detective, he did not come across as a credible character. But then, as it turns out, he's got a lot of other things on his mind.
I know that a lot of obvious stuff that goes unsaid between our main characters is supposed to be because it's a dysfunctional family where everyone is angry with everyone else, but there's a limit to how far you can push this. These people let an awful lot of very strange stuff just slide.
One last, small complaint: Enough with the drone shots, already. I know that it's a great way to make a low-budget movie look like a million bucks, but I'll be glad when the infatuation with this new technology dies down a little.