The Guest

Wow! What a gem of a movie. The Guest tells a tale of a mysterious and initially benign-appearing ex-military man who claims to have served with the recently deceased son of the Peterson family. Still grieving their loss, they welcome him with open arms. All is not as it seems however and slowly, despite his psychopathic charm, young Anna Peterson suspects that something is amiss.

What follows is a slick and stylish thriller with fluid action scenes that simmers at first before leading us to an explosive finale. The acting is solid throughout, especially from the two leads Dan Stevens and Maika Monroe who share a nice chemistry. The story, whilst simplistic and sometimes cheesy, is tight and the terse dialogue fits well. Character motivations are deliberately left vague and the film remains focused on the fact it is a thriller and doesn't overburden us with ridiculous a back-story; what back-story there is merely serves as a plot device to set-up the finale. And what a finale! Without giving spoilers, it is one of the most stylish final movie set-pieces I've seen in a long time, interjected with just the right amount of tongue-in-cheek quips. Just shows what can be done with the right set, some nerves and a smoke machine; who needs CGI!

A special mention must be given to the excellent soundtrack which really enhances the tension in some of the key scenes. At times I swore the bass beats were synced with my heart-rate!

Highly enjoyable and highly recommended!

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.

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.

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.

So a guy who claims to know your dead son turns up at your house one day. He seems nice and looks like that bloke off of Downton so you let him stay for a while... That is pretty much all I knew about this film before I went to see it. What follows is an enjoyable thriller with laughs aplenty and an excellent central performance from Dan Stevens (more on that later).

The plot, at the end of the day, is fairly nonsensical and there are some troubling loose ends that I found a little unsatisfactory. I can't say that any of the story is particularly surprising or original but what does that matter when everyone making it and everyone in the audience seems to be having so much fun? The cinema I was in was probably around half full and while there was nobody in full-on hysterical laughter, there was a satisfactory amount of appreciative chuckling (me included).

I feel that the majority of my enjoyment of this film should really be credited to Dan Stevens in the main role. His character is charming, pleasant and helpful and yet strangely sinister and unsettling from the outset and he plays it absolutely perfectly. You can't help but like him even though you're not sure that you should. Apart from a smallish role in "The Fifth Estate", I am only familiar with Stevens from Downton Abbey and his role in this couldn't have been more different from both of these. I look forward to seeing how his career progresses but this was an excellent example of his versatility as an actor.

Overall a good Saturday night out at the cinema but I can't imagine it is the kind of classic film I would watch again and again.