Writer: Mark Mavrothalisitis, Max Pachman (Screenplay)
Starring: Lynn Collins, Rigo Sanchez, Josue Aguirre, James Tupper, Roberto Sanchez, Thomas Chavira
Plot: The American Dream becomes a nightmare for a group of undocumented day laborers hired by a wealthy couple. What they expect to be their biggest payday turns into a terrifying fight for survival.
Tagline – They came for the american dream. They got a nightmare.
Runtime: 1 Hour 30 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Get Out 2
Story: Beneath Us starts as we meet Alejandro (Sanchez) and Memo (Aguirre) who are trying to live the American dream looking for labouring jobs on the streets, with the first one together being for wealthy couple Liz Rhodes (Collins) and Ben (Tupper), which sees the two of them joining two others on the job.
After the job starts out simply enough, it soon becomes clear the four are trapped on the grounds, with Liz and Ben using the fact they are undocumented to their own advantage to make them do anything or face consequences.
Thoughts on Beneath Us
Characters – Liz Rhodes is the lady of the house, who comes off like a friendly person offering the job, but soon shows a more sadistic side as she uses the home to trap the men there to have her way with them and if they don’t follow her rules, she will kill them. Ben is her husband that helps keep the men in line, doing the dirty work for her. Alejandro has been trying to make a living in America for years now, he will open his house to Memo and teach him the way so they can bring the rest of their family to America. Memo is fresh to the states, he wants to learn about the American dream, only he must learn about hard work to stand a chance.
Performances – Lynn Collins does ooze the sexy on edge character that you literally don’t know what she will do next, she does stand out from the rest of the cast, with James Tupper, not doing much to make a name for himself here. Rigo Sanchez and Josue Aguirre are both fine as the labourers made to look like more average joes rather than coming off like anything over the top.
Story – The story here follows four undocumented workers that get hired by a rich couple to help on construction on their property, they soon find themselves trapped and being forced into the twisted games of the owners who enjoy torturing immigrants, knowing they could get away with it. This does have a sense of Get Out, minus the overall plan, it shows how the couple will get enjoyment out of doing these twisted games and how they can’t run or they could face being deported. This does play into the idea of power the rich want over the poor, which shows how once caught they might not stand a chance to get out of the situation.
Horror – The horror side of this film shows the torture the men are put through and just how the couple get enjoyment out of it, they start simple and become more twisted as the time goes on.
Settings – The film is set in the one location, the house and grounds of the Rhodes, it shows how they could get away with what they want because nobody would get close to their land.
Special Effects – The effects are used slowly without giving us too much to get through, with the torture moments being the ones that show good use of camerawork.
Scene of the Movie – Try it, its gin.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – One cut is too abrupt for the story.
Final Thoughts – This is a tidy thriller that shows the clear divide between rich and poor, with the rich always wanting their own way with the poor, where Lynn Collins is psychotic throughout.
Overall: Psychotic Collins Shines.