We’ve seen the possessive, jealous, stalker type thriller before in many different forms and it’s a fun sub-genre but it’s difficult to bring something fresh to the table. Neil Jordan’s new venture takes this and tries to spin it on its head and manages to deliver that to some extent. We’d expect something of a certain standard from the man who brought us brilliant films like Interview with the Vampire and The Crying Game and while this may not be his finest hour, it’s an entertaining hour and forty minutes and one you won’t have to concentrate too intently on.
Chloe Grace Moretz plays Frances McCullen who lives in New York with her friend Erica Penn (Maika Monroe) and works as a waitress. One day she finds a bag that has been left by someone on the subway and she tracks down its owner and returns it to a lady called Greta Hideg (an unnerving Isabelle Huppert). Greta is extremely grateful, invites Frances in for tea and soon they become friends. However, this is no ordinary friendship and before long Frances realises that Greta isn’t quite who she thinks she is and she’s got something much darker in mind for Frances.
Moretz is great as usual and is solid in delivering a performance of a grounded, yet scared young woman who actually attempts to fight back in her situation rather than run away. Monroe provides good support as Frances’s friend and housemate Erica but it is Huppert who really steals the show here. Not only is she creepy and disconcerting but she’s rather hilarious in some scenes where she goes way over the top and you can tell she had lots of fun with this role. There is a particular scene towards the end which had me in stitches; whether that was Jordan’s intention or not it unclear.
There are some jump scares and excessive use of the zoom in shot here which are a bit farfetched at times but nonetheless entertaining. Something that was also quite shocking were some unforeseen moments of graphic gore and blood which were a refreshing surprise, seeing as many films of late shy away from violence in a horror or thriller. As already mentioned, we’ve all seen variations of this story before and it’s not the best Neil Jordan film by a longshot nor is it the most original story but it is a tense, thrilling slice of the sub-genre and it would certainly go down a treat on a Saturday night!
Chloe Grace Moretz plays Frances McCullen who lives in New York with her friend Erica Penn (Maika Monroe) and works as a waitress. One day she finds a bag that has been left by someone on the subway and she tracks down its owner and returns it to a lady called Greta Hideg (an unnerving Isabelle Huppert). Greta is extremely grateful, invites Frances in for tea and soon they become friends. However, this is no ordinary friendship and before long Frances realises that Greta isn’t quite who she thinks she is and she’s got something much darker in mind for Frances.
Moretz is great as usual and is solid in delivering a performance of a grounded, yet scared young woman who actually attempts to fight back in her situation rather than run away. Monroe provides good support as Frances’s friend and housemate Erica but it is Huppert who really steals the show here. Not only is she creepy and disconcerting but she’s rather hilarious in some scenes where she goes way over the top and you can tell she had lots of fun with this role. There is a particular scene towards the end which had me in stitches; whether that was Jordan’s intention or not it unclear.
There are some jump scares and excessive use of the zoom in shot here which are a bit farfetched at times but nonetheless entertaining. Something that was also quite shocking were some unforeseen moments of graphic gore and blood which were a refreshing surprise, seeing as many films of late shy away from violence in a horror or thriller. As already mentioned, we’ve all seen variations of this story before and it’s not the best Neil Jordan film by a longshot nor is it the most original story but it is a tense, thrilling slice of the sub-genre and it would certainly go down a treat on a Saturday night!
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