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Jul 06, 2017Nursebob rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
Starting out with small talk and uneasy laughter as out of touch acquaintances half-heartedly catch up on each other’s lives, director Karyn Kusama slowly sharpens the psychological edges of her thriller with an already unbalanced Will noticing—and quite possibly misinterpreting—worrisome little details like a barred window or the occasional odd mannerism. But when the shocks start arriving you realize she has been setting you up for a contemporary horror story that plays on southern California trendiness (remember EST and Transcendental Meditation?) yet ends with a vision more suitable to Dante. As Will, Logan Marshall-Green wears his pain prominently on his sleeve as he stares and stumbles his way through the evening taking us along with him—a compelling blend of anger and paranoia to match Emayatzy Corinealdi's (Kira) helpless befuddlement. Tammy Blanchard and Michiel Huisman on the other hand play Eden and David like a pair of Stepford yuppie acolytes, their bland smiles chillingly shallow as they spout their metaphysical word salad. Taken as a postmodern nightmare or the blackest of satires (or both) this is one psycho-shocker that hooks you solidly and never lets go.