Sommerleigh Pollonais, Senior Writer
Plot: A psychiatrist whose client commits suicide finds his family life disrupted after introducing her surviving brother to his wife and daughter.
Review: There’s a pulse here, but god dammit it’s a faint one. Every Breath You Take has a solid cast of actors, with Casey Affleck (Gone Baby Gone/Manchester by the Sea) as Philip, a psychiatrist who puts all his efforts into curing his patients, but very little into helping his grieving wife Grace, played by Michelle Monaghan (Pixels/Kiss Kiss Bang Bang), or his lonely, isolated daughter Lucy, played by India Eisley (Underworld: Awakening).
So it’s no surprise when the handsome and charming James, played by Sam Clafilin (The Hunger Games, Me Before You), easily slithers his way into their lives, manipulating them for his own twisted reasons. It’s honestly shocking how boring this movie is, as thrillers such as these don’t have to do much to be enjoyable. Hell, even Lifetime could make a better version of this in their sleep, and their movies are made for the same cost of a three-piece combo at KFC.
It’s a shame really, because this could’ve been a fun, easy-to-digest thriller the likes of Obsessed or Single While Female. Instead we get lethargic performances, with Affleck mumbling and half asleep the entire runtime while the other actors try with varying degrees of success to bring this uninspired story to life. Clafin is the only one who shows any spark. He makes for a decent villain but he alone can’t do much here. And the muted colour tones, dull cinematography, and dreary pacing sucks the energy out of every frame. I literally sat there WAITING for something to happen and when it did (one hour and twenty two minutes in) I was so surprised, I thought maybe I stumbled on to a different movie!
There are lots of other thrillers that know how to do this premise better. So much better. I recommend checking out Adam Wingard’s superbly directed thriller The Guest, if you want to see this genre done right. The only good thing about this movie is it made me think of the eponymous song by The Police. I would rather listen to that a thousand times on a loop than watch this stale movie again.
Sommer’s Score: 4 out of 10
For my review of schizophrenia thriller Fear of Rain you can click here. Or for my review of snowy Swedish thriller Red Dot you can click here.
Sommerleigh of the House Pollonais. First of Her Name. Sushi Lover, Queen of Horror Movies, Comic Books and Binge Watching Netflix. Mother of two beautiful black cats named Vader and Kylo. I think eating Popcorn at the movies should be mandatory, PS4 makes the best games ever and I’ll be talking about movies until the zombie apocalypse comes.
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