OK, I apologize. It is perhaps not fair to begin a review with what seems like a total non-sequitur, but in that regard I have an edge on you, kind reader, inasmuch as I know in advance that the review is not going to be especially flattering. So, armed with such foreknowledge, I figured, hey, why not lead with the only really "interesting" fact that those unfortunate enough to watch this will remember when they get home...? Which is that Emily Browning looks EXACTLY like a young Shannen Doherty, the face and bone structure are identical. I mean, wow, is that cool ... or what? Speaking of cool, this movie is not. I see in the reviews that (as expected) we already have a controversy brewing between those who wish they would have had their teeth cleaned INSTEAD OF watching this.. and those who (typically) feel this is a work of suspense on par with the greatest of the great and it was a privilege to be in the same theatre where it was playing.
OK, let me help. The only close analog for this film is Repulsion, one of the most in-depth and brilliant and mesmerizing studies of descent in paranoia ever filmed. I saw Repulsion first-run in a theatre and have seen it a half-dozen times since. One, this is not Repulsion. Two, this is not Godfather. Three, this is not even an especially well-crafted movie, although it is an ambitious one. If you allow yourself to get caught up in it -- itself a dubious choice -- the strangeness of the remote setting, the oddness and lack of empathy among the characters, and the constant whining of Michael Cera (brave of him to take such a self-deprecating role!) will irritate the heck out of you, but it will not necessarily entertain you. And therein is what separates a great film from a wasted opportunity to make a film.
OK, let me help. The only close analog for this film is Repulsion, one of the most in-depth and brilliant and mesmerizing studies of descent in paranoia ever filmed. I saw Repulsion first-run in a theatre and have seen it a half-dozen times since. One, this is not Repulsion. Two, this is not Godfather. Three, this is not even an especially well-crafted movie, although it is an ambitious one. If you allow yourself to get caught up in it -- itself a dubious choice -- the strangeness of the remote setting, the oddness and lack of empathy among the characters, and the constant whining of Michael Cera (brave of him to take such a self-deprecating role!) will irritate the heck out of you, but it will not necessarily entertain you. And therein is what separates a great film from a wasted opportunity to make a film.