I Came By – Movie Review
Director: Babak Anvari
Writer: Babak Anvari, Namsi Khan (Screenplay)
Cast
- Kelly Macdonald (Trainspotting)
- George MacKay (1917)
- Hugh Bonneville (Paddington)
- Varada Sethu (Jurassic World Dominion)
- Percelle Ascott (The Dare)
Plot: Follows a young graffiti artist who discovers a shocking secret that would put him and the ones closest to him in danger.
Runtime: 1 Hour 50 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: I Came By starts when graffiti artist Toby (MacKay) has been branding homes with ‘I Came By’ on the rich people’s homes. His best friend Jameel (Ascott) wants to leave this world when his girlfriend gets pregnant.
Toby working alone gets caught up on his latest job involving Sir Hector Blake (Bonneville). Only to discover a secret in the basement. After Toby goes missing, Jameel and Toby’s mother Liz (Macdonald) start searching for answers.
Verdict on I Came By
Characters
Hector Blake is a former judge who has connections within the police force. He has become the latest mark for graffiti artists, but he has more security than they are used to. Hector has a secret hidden in his basement, which shows a darker side to his very public persona.
Liz is Toby’s mother, she works in care trying to help people in need and has a strained relationship with her son. When her son goes missing, she does everything she can in search of answers, learning about her son’s secret life.
Toby is the street-smart graffiti artist who has been tagging rich people’s homes. He has become distant from his mom and his friend wanting to step away from life. He is finding himself alone in this world, taking more dangerous lives.
Jameel is Toby’s best friend who used to tag the homes with him. He has a criminal record and wants to step away from this world after his girlfriend gets pregnant. Jameel is left in a difficult situation when Toby gets into trouble, where he doesn’t want to throw his life away but isn’t sure whether to do the right thing.
Performances
Hugh Bonneville is truly disturbing in this movie. He has all the charm in the public face, but when he is with victims, his line delivery is psychotic.
Percelle Ascott, Kelly Macdonald and George MacKay are all great in their roles. Each role is connected but seems to have a different spell leading the movie.
Story
The story follows a graffiti artist who picks the wrong house, leading to his friends and family to search for him. This only ends up showing the darker side to the original target who has his own way of getting away with things.
The story is an interesting spin on things like ‘Rear Window’ and ‘Don’t Breathe’ which is a pairing you never imagined hearing together. This is because it sees the person believing there is a crime, and needing to figure it out on their own, while also committing the crime to learn the truth. It is also broken into a strange way, which can see certain parts of the story coming off as more confusing, as we are never left to figure out who the lead is.
The story does do enough to keep us guessing and it doesn’t hold back with any shock value, with plenty that happens surprising the audience.
Themes
I Came By is a nice thriller that has a twisted killer and plenty of twists along the way. There is also a social commentary about how different races and wealth levels are treated within the criminal world. The locations used are more terrifying, as the home that Hector lives in is in the middle of the street. Showing he is doing this in plain sight. One of the additions which would have been nice to see more of, was the inclusion of the graffiti world, as we only learn they are part of it.
Where to Watch: I Came By is available on Netflix.
Final Thoughts – I Came By is an intense thriller with plenty of twists, turns and shocking moments.