March 19, 2022
A billionaire CEO of a tech company (Jesse Plemons) and his fund-raiser wife (Lily Collins) were on a secret getaway in their remote vacation estate. When they arrived, they realized that there was a man (Jason Segel) who had broken into their house. When his planned quick getaway hit a major snag, the intruder took both of them hostage. He proceeded to negotiate how much it would take for him to go away quietly and leave them alone.
While waiting for the money to arrive in the evening of the next day, the three people get to talking to each other. Even as everyone was being vague with the details, they began to read between the lines and get to know each other a little bit better. The unexpected appearance of the gardener (Omar Leyva) the next morning complicated matters. With time, the tension steadily built up among all involved, reaching a head when the money finally arrived.
From the opening credits, with the 40s-style font of the title card and the blaring musical note behind it, we clearly feel an Alfred Hitchcock vibe. That uniquely syncopated tense musical score by Danny Benisi and Saunder Jurriaans was undeniably the most memorable aspects of this film. The way the dialogues of this dark comedy were written and delivered by the actors, the whole film felt like it was originally a play adapted for the big screen.
The opening sequence had the intruder, called Nobody in the closing credits, just slowly and wordlessly wandering in the house for close to 10 minutes. This set the deliberate, at times tedious, pace at which rest of the film unfolded. The run time was only 90 minutes long, but it may feel long for those who could not get into its noir-ish groove. You'd stay on to see how the situation would resolve itself, but some may feel tempted to press the fast forward button.
The actors do hold your attention despite the pace. Jesse Plemons had that oily look about him as the rich CEO, you'd instantly feel that this guy is an arrogant jerk. Jason Segel's thief never really came across as dangerous, something the CEO actually called out. Lily Collins (the real-life spouse of director Charlie McDowell) as the wife was the one character who actually had an arc, but it was not so convincing why it turned out that way. 6/10.
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