Last Seen in Idaho

Last Seen in Idaho is a fun thriller chock full of twists and turns. Just when you think you have it all figured out, another surprise is thrown into the mix. The premise of the story is that a woman named Summer witnesses a murder and while she's trying to escape the scene, she's pursued by the killers and wrecks her car. Later at the hospital, she can't recall the murder she saw, but now she's having premonitions about her own future murder. So there's a bit of fantastical element to it. Meanwhile, the killers decide that if Summer's memory shows any signs of returning, they will eliminate her.

An indie production, this film seems to have the ambition of larger films. There are some action and suspense scenes throughout the first two acts of the film, but mostly, it relies on tension and mystery that builds through those acts, leading to a massive final act with bigger action and spectacle.

Hallie Shepherd is a believable and relatable as Summer, a heroine who is continually facing down the worst possible news - You're going to be kidnapped... wait no, you're going to die.... Wait no.... She's brave and tough and resourceful. Casper Van Dien is creepy as all get out, as a killer who has no emotions about his murders, just bland curiosity. Wes Ramsey is complex character who uses his charm and good looks to get close to Summer. He shows range in this film, needing to have both likeability and a rough and dark criminal side. Shawn Christian is colorful and eccentric as a cocky bad guy. Alexis Monnie plays Summer's younger sister, a naïve young woman who doesn't seem to have the same street smarts her older sister does. This solid cast also has a variety of supporting characters that add to the overall mystery of "Who is the Big Bad Crime Lord?"

All in all, a really fun thriller! It kept me engaged the entire time, and I didn't see the end coming.

Showtime has a pretty wide selection of films and genres these days from independent films and Sundance movies to big budget blockbusters. That's one of the things I like about the channel. I was just perusing the guide and Last Seen in Idaho was about to start. The title and the description sounded cool so I went for it even though I didn't know any of the actors in it except I recognized one of them. It turned about to be a decent thriller. Maybe I'd classify it more as a mystery because there's a fair amount of sleuthing by the main character in between the occasional chase or fight scene. I liked the lead actress. She was relatable and natural. I really liked the lead male. He was simmering and likeable. All in all it's decent if you like these kinds of mystery-thriller movies.

Unique thriller with a good concept involving lost memories and an unsolved crime. I think this is a movie that women will like more than men in that it follows a female character, including her conflicted relationship with her sister, and there is also some romance thrown in as well with a good-looking male character. The main character was likeable and relatable.

The movie has an intriguing set up: Woman witnesses crime and in a near death escape ends up in coma only to awaken with special powers. Now this movie mainly stays in the realm of realism. The "special powers" are limited to premonitions that pop up unexpectedly and all relate in some form or other to her upcoming murder. How can she stop it?

I feel like this movie wanted to go deeper with some of the themes that it presented: Can we change our destiny? Are the mistakes of our past destined to haunt us? It dances around those topics, but with so many characters and plotlines in need of development in order to serve the mystery and the suspense, it never fully explores those themes. I wish it would have. That would have elevated the movie to a solid '8' for me.

Good directing. Good writing. Good acting. It's good across the board with suspense, moments that make you jump, tension, and some good action, but it's missing that something that would turn it into a break-out hit. Middle was a touch slow, maybe? Still, I recommend it. It was entertaining.

I really wasn't sure what to think of this movie going into it. The poster looks like a blow-em-up action movie. I watched the trailer and that conveyed a thriller with a female lead more than an action film with guns a blazing. I was intrigued enough by the premise of a woman having visions of her murder that hasn't happened yet, so I gave it a go. I was pleasantly surprised. The suspense was well done with a few highly tense sequences, namely one of the early scenes when Summer (the heroine) sees a murder, as well as a few later scenes that I won't spoil. The way that early aforementioned scene was directed and shot felt eerie and claustrophobic.

The reason I rank the movie as a 7 and not an 8 or 9 is because there are quite a lot of characters jampacked into this story. This is necessary on one hand because there is a mystery element to the story where you can suspect any character, but at the same time, I wanted to stay focused on the main characters and their relationships to each other, namely those of Summer and Franco (love interest/or maybe the death of her) and that of Summer and Lance (ex-boyfriend). I will say that I was very surprised by the reveal at the end, so in that regard, it succeeded in keeping me engaged and preventing me from figuring things out. A tense, interesting thriller with a great cast.