Shut In (2016)

“Shut In” stars Naomi Watts, Oliver Platt, Charlie Heaton, and Jacob Tremblay.  Released on November 11, 2016, the film is about a psychologist who discovers something unexpected while taking care of her paralyzed son.

The film is directed by Farren Blackburn, who is known for directing several episodes of The Fades, Doctor Who, The Musketeers, and Marvel’s Daredevil.  This is one of those films that didn’t have a lot of effort of letting people know about their existence.  I only heard about it from its official trailer on Youtube, a couple of television spots, and...that’s about it.  I know that marketing costs money, but the filmmakers could at least try to make their project more...recognizable.  But that’s not what I’m talking about.  I’m talking about the actual film that didn’t quite grab people’s attention.  I’m serious.  I just watched it in an empty theater on a Monday.  That’s how unrecognizable this film is.  But what really made it that way besides the lack of marketing?

Pros:
Naomi Watts‘ performance was decent.

Cons:
The story was predictable and weak.  Not even the surprise twist at the beginning of the second half can make it even better.

Had plenty of thriller cliches.

The characters lacked depth and/or were just plain dumb.

A bit slow at times.

Had little suspense and loud jump scares, but not enough to make it scary.

Final thoughts: Not only did “Shut In” fail to deliver something fresh in the home invasion thriller genre, it also tried way too hard to scare me.  I know it’s not a horror film, but thrillers can be a bit scary too if they’re done right.  There were a lot of things in this film that I thought could’ve been handled better, such as the story and the characters, but I’m not going to let those flaws bother me that much.  If you’re planning on seeing this, it’s probably best that you watch it once on television, in my opinion...or better yet, watch it on Lifetime because that's where the forgettable and cliched thrillers are.

D-