Shut In

One of the most intriguing genres out there is that of the thriller genre. If written well, it demands and keeps its audience's attention all the while scaring them which leaves the audience holding on to that proverbial seat. Most people like to be scared, or they wouldn't be so intrigued with the genre at hand. This is why Hollywood produces films like "Shut In" so as to keep us yet intrigued.

 

This is a heart-pounding thriller about a child psychologist, Dr. Mary Portman (Naomi Watts) who is a widow that lives an isolated existence in rural Maine. When a young boy, Tom (Jacob Tremblay) Mary is treating goes missing, and is presumed dead, she is convinced that his ghost is haunting her and her paraplegic teenage son, Stephen (Charlie Heaton).

Caught in a deadly snow storm, she must try fervently to find Tom and fears for his life. She repeatedly calls her associate, Dr. Wilson (Oliver Platt) for advice, because the longer time goes by, the more things don't seem to add up to why all these screwy incidences are even occurring. Can she find Tom before it's too late or will time take its toll?

 

Others to round out the cast are David Cubitt as Doug Hart, Clementine Poidatz as Lucy, Mary's secretary, Crystal Balint as Grace, Tom's mother, Ellen David as Joan, Alex Braunstein as Aaron Hart, Doug's teenage son and Ted Post as Sheriff.

 

This was creepily directed by relative newcomer to feature films, Farren Blackburn ("Hammer of the Gods" '13) plus a lot of TV and shorts. This filmmaker gave his characters that feeling of uncertainty or creepiness, depending on the character, that gave his audience that feeling of wonderment. He will go far in this biz, especially in this genre. It was written by Christina Hodson, a writer that has no other writing to her credit, but was able to produce a fairly coherent screenplay. Hey, don't get me wrong, this isn't Academy Award caliber work here, but considering her total lack of experience, this script wasn't bad. The main problem with this was the fact that it having only a 90 minute running time, there was too much time given to get to the meat of this story. Once it got going, the story simply soared. What will certainly help this writer is that she has other films that have been announced or in post-production. Of course, having Watts in this didn't hurt--she is a very talented, convincing actor that knows her characters well. Even Heaton who played Stephen was amazing in his role. As a new actor, he will go far, because he is undoubtedly a natural. This is certainly one of those small films that will take you by surprise whereas the sound effects were probably as much a star as the actors.

 

Certainly if you're a lover of the thriller genre, you'll be in heaven, but even if you're not, this still has enough to keep the most cynical in their respective seats until the end rolls around. You've got to cut this film some slack--considering the lack of experience from these filmmakers, this is still great escape fodder for an hour and a half to allow yourself to be scared.

 

Out of 4 Stars: 2.5                                 Rated: PG-13                             91mins.