I recently watched, You Should Have Left, starring, Kevin Bacon and Amanda Seyfried. Here’s the short synopsis according to IMDB: A former banker, his actress wife, and their spirited daughter book a vacation at an isolated modern home in the Welsh countryside where nothing is quite as it seems. In a nutshell, yes. However, the story itself is a little more complex. The synopsis fails to mention that the banker (Bacon) was acquitted of murder charges back in the day for the death of his previous wife and that the actress (Seyfried) is very busy with movie shoots and always has her nose buried in her cellphone. She has film shoots scheduled for London, so the entire family decides to go together so they can spend more time with one another and end up renting a large house in the Welsh countryside.
It’s a simple setup and we don’t really need much more than that. Early on we see Bacon’s character struggling with anger issues and confidence issues that stem from the age difference between Bacon and Seyfried. Even during the trailer, my wife was making comments on the age gap (it’s almost double, Seyfried being 34 and Bacon being 61). However, they address the gap in the movie and it is a source of contention. The other source, of course, being Bacon’s past with his wife. Even though he was acquitted of the charges and found innocent, everyone seems to believe he killed his wife (she drowned in the bathtub after overdosing on too many pills).
The other major player in this movie, is the daughter, played by Avery Tillu Essex, and I have to say, she was probably the best actor in this whole production. She’s nine years old, but in the movie, she plays a six-year-old. She nailed it! Wonderfully done!
Once they get to the house in Wales is when the creepiness gets cranked up. Not to spoil anything, but the crew did an outstanding job with some subtle horror using the background in this film. Ever since watching the movie, Insidious, I have always kept an eye on the background of horror movies. This one didn’t disappoint.
The movie doesn’t waste any time ramping up the horror and creepiness and Bacon begins to descend further and further into his own paranoia, madness, and rage. While there wasn’t anything super original with this movie, I still found it enjoyable and would recommend it to fans of haunted houses or weird horror. Overall, I give the film a 4/5.
Now, on to the spoilery section of goodness.
The other major player in this movie, is the daughter, played by Avery Tillu Essex, and I have to say, she was probably the best actor in this whole production. She’s nine years old, but in the movie, she plays a six-year-old. She nailed it! Wonderfully done!
Once they get to the house in Wales is when the creepiness gets cranked up. Not to spoil anything, but the crew did an outstanding job with some subtle horror using the background in this film. Ever since watching the movie, Insidious, I have always kept an eye on the background of horror movies. This one didn’t disappoint.
The movie doesn’t waste any time ramping up the horror and creepiness and Bacon begins to descend further and further into his own paranoia, madness, and rage. While there wasn’t anything super original with this movie, I still found it enjoyable and would recommend it to fans of haunted houses or weird horror. Overall, I give the film a 4/5.
Now, on to the spoilery section of goodness.
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So where this movie excels is in the details. The house itself plays an important role. We find out later that supposedly the devil built it to collect souls, and that over years it has taken on different forms. The devil builds it, God destroys it, and the devil builds it over. The house itself is bigger on the inside than the outside, and it can shift its layout at will. This becomes quite disconcerting for the characters when the house decides to trap one or more of them.
We also find out that the house reached out to Bacon’s character. In a nutshell, it emailed itself to them as available for rent and Bacon assumed that his wife wanted it and vice versa. Once it got him, he couldn’t leave.
At one point, Bacon finds out that his wife has been having an affair and has a second phone. He gets angry and kicks her out of the house. That’s when the spectral shit hits the fan. Things get crazy, it takes his daughter and tries to trick him. He eventually gets her back and they take off on foot for the nearby town four miles down the road. However, the road leads them right back to the house (as haunted roads and houses do). Fast-forward a bit, and we find out that Bacon killed his wife and the devil has him and tells him he’s not getting out, but he can let his daughter go if he wants, or she can stay with him for eternity.
The next morning the wife comes back and he loads the daughter up and confesses. After that, he returns to the house to face his punishment.
The movie plays on the shifting floorplan quite well, and also plays with time-shifts. I loved how they portrayed the first time shift as it’s the first night in the house. Bacon leaves his wife upstairs to go turn off all the lights and we get a shot of the camera. He walks all through the house and is kind of amazed at how the doors keep leading to other spots and how big the place is. He ends up finding the laundry room with a creepy polaroid pic on the wall of a shadowy figure. By the time he gets back upstairs, for him it only felt like 10 minutes, but the next shot of the clock shows it was five hours.
Anyway, watch the movie, let me know what you thought. As I mentioned above, the concept isn’t new or original, but I think they did a great job with this one.
Good.
So where this movie excels is in the details. The house itself plays an important role. We find out later that supposedly the devil built it to collect souls, and that over years it has taken on different forms. The devil builds it, God destroys it, and the devil builds it over. The house itself is bigger on the inside than the outside, and it can shift its layout at will. This becomes quite disconcerting for the characters when the house decides to trap one or more of them.
We also find out that the house reached out to Bacon’s character. In a nutshell, it emailed itself to them as available for rent and Bacon assumed that his wife wanted it and vice versa. Once it got him, he couldn’t leave.
At one point, Bacon finds out that his wife has been having an affair and has a second phone. He gets angry and kicks her out of the house. That’s when the spectral shit hits the fan. Things get crazy, it takes his daughter and tries to trick him. He eventually gets her back and they take off on foot for the nearby town four miles down the road. However, the road leads them right back to the house (as haunted roads and houses do). Fast-forward a bit, and we find out that Bacon killed his wife and the devil has him and tells him he’s not getting out, but he can let his daughter go if he wants, or she can stay with him for eternity.
The next morning the wife comes back and he loads the daughter up and confesses. After that, he returns to the house to face his punishment.
The movie plays on the shifting floorplan quite well, and also plays with time-shifts. I loved how they portrayed the first time shift as it’s the first night in the house. Bacon leaves his wife upstairs to go turn off all the lights and we get a shot of the camera. He walks all through the house and is kind of amazed at how the doors keep leading to other spots and how big the place is. He ends up finding the laundry room with a creepy polaroid pic on the wall of a shadowy figure. By the time he gets back upstairs, for him it only felt like 10 minutes, but the next shot of the clock shows it was five hours.
Anyway, watch the movie, let me know what you thought. As I mentioned above, the concept isn’t new or original, but I think they did a great job with this one.
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