Director: David Koepp
Writer: David Koepp (Screenplay) Daniel Kehlmann (Novel)
Starring: Kevin Bacon, Amanda Seyfried, Avery Tiiu Essex, Colin Blumenau, Lowri Ann Richard, Joshua C Jackson, Eli Powers
Plot: A former banker, his actress wife, and their spirited daughter book a vacation at an isolated modern home in the Welsh countryside where nothing is quite as it seems.
Tagline – The House Finds You.
Runtime: 1 Hour 33 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Lacklustre Horror
Story: You Should Have Left starts when a former bank Theo (Bacon), his actress wife Susanna (Seyfried) and daughter Ella (Essex) decide to take a break from their busy lives, by heading to the Welsh countryside to relax.
Only Theo’s past will continue to haunt him, with reputation after his first wife died, with many people believing he killed her, could this vacation bring about the truth.
Thoughts on You Should Have Left
Characters – Theo is a former banker, who lost his first wife and was accused of her death, proven not guilty he has been trying to continue his own life, even if people still see him as guilty. He has remarried, which has seen him starting to question his own wife’s actions and with his own nightmares, notices something isn’t right in this house he has rented for a vacation. Susanna is the actress wife of Theo’s she is younger and often gets put in the situation of mistaken for his daughter, her career does keep her busy and keeping her on her phone more than often. Ella is the young daughter that both love no matter what the differences between them, she shows the innocent nature that both wish to have, which the evil starts to search for.
Performances – Kevin Bacon does all he can with the leading role, only it does seem to not let him give us everything we could see from him. Amanda Seyfried does all she can too, not being involved in the horror element of the film.
Story – The story here follows a family that look to go on vacation only for the father’s past coming back to the light as the family find themselves getting haunted by the unknown. The story does try to bring us a element of shock with how a past story could have a different truth, while getting bogged down showing how toxic the relationship between the couple truly are. The final twenty minutes are where most of the horror occurs, only it doesn’t seem to get as strong as it could be and ends up confusing the story more than anything else.
Horror/Mystery – The horror in the film is mostly flat, it is difficult to see what was meant to be the horror side of things, with the mystery just not hitting home either.
Settings – The film set in w remote house, which is massive leading to endless corridors, where not everything is what it seems like on the outside.
Scene of the Movie – Get your coat Ella.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – We have two, first why would you just casually talk about a previous death in the family to a 6 year old, and how quick was Susanna’s bath where Theo goes through her stuff.
Final Thoughts – This is a horror that doesn’t seem to deliver the scares it wants to and ends up feeling flat throughout the whole film.
Overall: Flat Horror.
