The Guest

The only thing surprising in The Guest is just how straight forward it is in its simple plotting. Everything unfolds in predictable fashion, but this B material is a fantastic showcase of wicked humor and misanthropic violence. Dan Stevens is in excellent form here, as a mysterious soldier who shows up unannounced at a family's home of a fallen soldier he served with. He's all smiles and very polite, but people with a usually negative connection with this family start meeting grisly ends. Like in his previous film You're Next, Adam Wingard approaches plotting you've seen a million times and wittily turns it on its ear without ever being too self aware. It's a shame Picturehouse who acquired the US rights dumped the film in a handful of theaters without trying to capitalize on the strong reviews and never bothered to expand it theatrically. The Guest is a quick fun time that knows exactly what it is and delivers without overstaying its welcome.

It feels almost inaccurate to refer to this movie as The Guest when in reality it was entirely carried by a wonderful performance by Dan Stevens. I enjoyed it thoroughly, which isn't at all to say it's what I would normally call a good movie. The movie is highly campy, reminiscent of '80s-'90s action movies / thrillers, and Dan Stevens brings in an excellent all around tongue in cheek tough 80's anti-hero performance.

Stevens' acting is well matched by strong action that is to the point and not drawn out, as well as superbly chosen music, particularly in the climactic scenes.

For any gamers out there, if you enjoyed Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon for the nostalgia and humor, you'll likely love this movie as much as I did.

I moonwalked my way out of the dimly lit, Hong Sang-zooom overly meditative crypt of arthouse flicks - no shade to Apichatpong, definitely anticipating his Cemetery of Splendour, and I'm like, totally psyched for Zulawski's Cosmos, his comeback after, like, a decade! And Phil Stevens's Flowers (2015).

But my acid-wash soul yearned for a film with the visual fidelity of an 80's VHS tape. Enter "The Guest," a moniker so aggressively pedestrian, I half-expected a movie about a polite stranger who overstays his welcome, eats leftovers, flexes lame jokes to cousins (barf!), or does a plumber sleeps-with-cliched-clientele bit like in an Xhamster masterpiece, lol!

Anyway, I had already seen Joe Swanberg, the mumblecore guy's You're Next (2011), and it was Adam Wingard's gory fun direction that made the film worth watching. I got a small hint about the plot and thought Dan Stevens was gonna sacrifice his white butt for a soldier's family and pull off a Denzel Washington (totally radical!). I was wrong as this film is very laid out with a simple plot, crazy climax, with lots of blood, adrenaline that blends the sensibilities of classic John Carpenter (totally awesome!) with some really Giallo aesthetic and a little Nicolas Winding Refn vibe. I don't want to share more about the story or the character arc. But I guarantee this, an entertaining blood feast awaits for those who dig the classic exploitation genre, full of action with an insanely kickass soundtrack and an atmosphere that will keep you hooked until the final credit.

Creepy stranger premise has been used in horror or mystery to varied effect, the latest Jennifer Lopez's flick is an example of how not to welcome this premise. Luckily, The Guest has the luxury of having suave lead actor and good atmosphere for a thriller. Some of the kinks are predictable, but the dark humor as well as bizarre revelations offer much needed novelty to the movie.

David (Dan Stevens) arrives at the Petersons resident, claiming that he was a friend of their fallen son. He's well-mannered and seems trustworthy, thus the family welcomes him openly. Upon his stay, strange accidents begin to happen, and suspicion arises with the casualties. The most important hook is Dan Stevens' portrayal of David. He looks like a rugged debonair, this is not average smooth, this is Ryan Gosling's level of smoothness.

Stevens delivers a wide variety of emotions, he can be either friendly or deadly. Backed by good cast, such as Maika Monroe as the Anna Peterson and Lance Reddick as Mayor Carver, the movie has a solid degree on acting performance. The exchange of banter is enjoyable, often resulting in manipulation or downright violence for David's benefit. It elevates the human drama between him, the Peterson family and whoever unlucky enough to be in their immediately vicinity.

Mystery of David's real identity is crafted slowly and it's compelling enough to pique interest without revealing too much. The film also has a touch of humor, albeit slightly crude. Strangely, in the third act it changes tone drastically for the climax. This shift is a bit odd considering it plays the thriller aspect with steady pace for the majority of early parts, although this explosive tone does have the merit of being entertaining.

There are short bursts of Hollywood style carnage, but they are modest, not all out gunblazing from the start like Bourne or the recent John Wick. Action sequences are well choreographed, it has both devastating and ridiculous impact.. Good practical effect for the blood and explosion as well as its highly unorthodox soundtracks make the faster pace scenes more satisfying.

Having good mesh of action, mystery and comedy, The Guest is enigmatically fascinating.

A young soldier called Dave turns up at the home of the Peterson family whose son has recently been killed in action overseas . Happy to see their late son's friend they invite Dave to stay longer and Dave quickly ingratiates himself in to the family's affection . But is Dave who he says he is and if not what is his agenda ?

!!!! SUGGESTIVE SPOILERS !!!!!

A familiar story , so much so that before seeing it I had it instantly nailed as a rip off from an episode of Brian Clemens THRILLER from the mid 1970s which had the exact same premise . Premise isn't the same as plot however and despite hitting the occasional plot turn with its bedfellows THE GUEST does have an idiosyncratic feel of its own

It's something of a film of two halves . The first half sets up Dave to both the Peterson family and the audience and right away Dave comes across a very likable guy especially when he sorts out some school bullies on behalf of young Luke and much of his likability is down to the way he's played by Dan Stevens and it wasn't until after seeing the film I found out that Stevens is a Brit .Keep an eye on the name Dan Stevens because you might just be hearing a lot more from him in the future . In fact Dave is so likable I did find myself in agreement with Luke that it doesn't really matter who Dave is or what he's done in the past because anyone who can maim a few school bullies can't be all bad

But THE GUEST has to follow a formula which means Dave has to be a bad man and a bad man is indeed what he is so when Anna Peterson contacts the military and Lance Reddick informs every spook in a fifty mile radius to shoot Dave on sight this gives a clue as to how bad he might be . Actually at this point the film might just be making a detour in to the science fiction genre but to be fair it's not as jarring or as leftfield as it could have been .From the outset Dave surprises people around him . He can run from the bus station to the Peterson house surprising Mrs Peterson , he can consume massive amounts of alcohol without getting drunk etc etc which suggests superhuman abilities along with the suggestion he's not human at all which means despite all the familiarity of the story and its flaws ( The ending is a bit over the top ) THE GUEST is a more intriguing film than you might have expected it to be