Director: Jonathan Heap
Writer: Jonathan Heap, David Lipper (Screenplay)
Starring: David Lipper, Dina Meyer, Lance Henriksen, Bree Williamson, Austin Highsmith, Levy Tran
Plot: After the death of a much despised patriarch, a mysterious box shows up during the reading of the will, forcing the family to reckon with each of their own deadly sins.
Runtime: 1 Hour 24 Minutes
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Clever Idea
Story: The Unwilling starts when Father Harris (Henriksen) dies bringing his family together for the will reading, they must go to David’s (Lipper) house because of his OCD, the rest of the family and new connection include Michelle (Meyer), Cheryl (Williamson), Kelly (Highsmith) Darren (Thomas), Rich (Rusier).
The reading doesn’t go as expected when a mysterious box arrives and the family must put their differences aside to learn the reason why they have been summoned for this event.
Thoughts on The Unwilling
Characters – David is the owner of the house the event takes place, he suffers from agoraphobia and OCD, he is the first to suspect that his father might be haunting them from beyond the grave, we get to see about his troubles through the film. Michelle is the sister of David, divorced from Rich and escaped from the home at childhood. Father Harris is the man that has died and bought his family together for his will reading. The rest of the characters are what w know from this style of movie, though Cheryl seems different to what we know when it comes to the young woman with older rich guy as she does have intelligence and medical training instead of just being a bimbo.
Performances – The performances in this movie are the weakest part of the film, mostly because we have a lot of over reacting screaming, a stoner that is beyond annoying and the playing into the OCD too much while not being consistent.
Story – The story shows a family coming back together to read a will only for things to take a turn when a mysterious box arrives, it soon becomes a battle to survive. Where this story becomes fascinating is when everything gets rolling and the story goes into direction you wouldn’t imagine it going in and with a final third that is wonderful to see unfold.
Thriller – The film uses the thriller genre well because it builds the tension between the characters and keeps us guessing just where the film could go in the later part.
Settings – The film takes in the home of David, it keeps the story in one location and shows it isn’t within walking distance to anywhere else.
Special Effects – The effects in the movie are used well enough, one moment stands out more than the rest with a mirror.
Scene of the Movie – Mirror sequence.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The Darren character got very annoying quickly as a stoner.
Final Thoughts – This is a thriller that that does start slow and doesn’t have most interesting characters, but once we get into the story it becomes one of the most interesting ones in a long time.
Overall: Great story unfolding.
Rating
