• A slow-burn thriller/horror with a tremendous payoff in the last 20 minutes

intelligent and intriguing throughout– with a spellbinding final 20 minutes

  • The lead is played by Tom Hardy doppelgänger Logan Marshall-Green – who is very good in the role. Cracks me up though when actors come up like this- the Michael Pitt thing (and I think he’s good, too) with DiCaprio in the early 2000’s
  • Marshall-Green’s Will character is haunted by past trauma, and is invited to an awkwardly tense dinner party with his ex-Wife at their LA mansion in the hills.
  • Beautiful lighting design and décor- subtle but there- golden hues, olives, tans, browns

Beautiful lighting design and décor- subtle but there- golden hues, olives, tans, browns

  • The sublimely eerie John Carroll Lynch shows up 15-20 minutes in. He’s haunting. Both just standing/sitting in the background at the dinner party—and delivering a monstrous monologue about his former wife

The sublimely eerie John Carroll Lynch shows up 15-20 minutes in. He’s haunting. Both just standing/sitting in the background at the dinner party—and delivering a monstrous monologue about his former wife

  • Setting is one night, one party, one house—and what a house- the affluent, casual hills in L.A. – perfect for the cult, the Polanski-like paranoia
  • You are suspicious the entire film, especially at the 1 hour mark when you hear that voicemail—but you also realize your central character here is unreliable, going through constant soft-focus laden flashbacks and memories (a nice stylistic touch).

You are suspicious the entire film, especially at the 1 hour mark when you hear that voicemail—but you also realize your central character here is unreliable, going through constant soft-focus laden flashbacks and memories (a nice stylistic touch).

  • The writing is strong too—“I’ve been waiting to die since the moment it happened” followed by “moving forward is not a betrayal”. Even the “group” or cult is not without their moments of convincing arguments and eloquence
  • Red lantern and that final image a stunner

Red lantern and that final image a stunner

  • Recommend – but just outside the top 10 of 2015