Don’t Move, 2024.
Directed by Brian Netto and Adam Schindler.
Starring Kelsey Asbille, Finn Wittrock, Daniel Francis, Moray Treadwell, Denis Kostadinov, Kate Nichols, Skye Little Wing Dimov Saw, and Dylan Beam.
SYNOPSIS:
It follows a seasoned killer as he injects a grieving woman with a paralytic agent. She must run, fight, and hide before her body shuts down.
“Good” might be a stretch for Don’t Move (which comes from the directing team of Brian Netto and Adam Schindler, writers T.J. Cimfel and David White, and producer Sam Raimi), but it is a more grounded take on serial killer chaos than earlier this year’s Trap, which was so bad and unbelievable one wanted to laugh it out of whatever concert arena it took place in. Rest assured, I’m not trying to continue my vendetta against that movie (it’s much more fun when M. Night Shyamalan’s bizarre wackiness wins you over), but everything about Finn Wittrock’s Richard – from the look to the hair to the sinister smile, reverse psychology smarts, and even some similar personal revelations – feel as if this role was nothing more than an audition to play The Butcher.
This film does have a unique spin, though, as it involves Richard injecting a paralyzing serum into the bloodstream of his victims, typically preying in the isolated wilderness or near the mountains. He finds the suicidal Iris (Kelsey Asbille), still feeling guilty and grieving the loss of her young child and talks her out of jumping off the mountain. Kelsey Asbille and Finn Wittrock are solid and make this conversation feel as if it is a naturalistic flowing dialogue between two wounded people (he opens up about past anger issues and accidentally crashing the car that killed his first love, unable to confess his apparently disturbing final words). As soon as those characteristics and past are made clear, there is no question where this will inevitably go and what the final takeaway will be.
It then comes down to the paralyzing agent to make this cat-and-mouse survival thriller refreshingly pop. For a while, it does since there is a crafty and resourceful protagonist, but also the subversion that, as viewers, we can’t get upset and shout at the screen about what we would do or what she should have done. She is gradually losing all motor functions and, within the first 20 minutes, can’t move. The concept also gives Kelsey Asbille an intriguing physicality challenge (or lack thereof) that she gets right, appropriately conveying stillness and hopelessness. When the effects start to wear off, she also convincingly demonstrates the slow regaining of that mobility.
However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that suspense sequences, chase scenes, or brief interactions with strangers are engaging; they suffer the same fate as anyone who has ever seen a thriller before knowing precisely what the scene is building to and how it will end. Don’t Move seems to think it’s clever, but in actuality, it’s living up to its namesake and not doing much at all. As filmmakers, it’s admirable to have confidence, but with every score drop and pause to give the protagonist or antagonistic something “cool” to say, or with each new plot or character development, the execution remains flat.
There is amusing, potentially social commentary in that Richard, for all his psychology smarts, is also quite incompetent at serial killing. Iris certainly has a survivor’s instinct, but Richard also regularly lets his guard down, gets caught in lies by other characters, and routinely escalates the situation into something worse for himself. It’s not because people are falling for his games or that they don’t believe Iris (who does everything from blinking to answer yes/no questions to making frightened, panicked facial expressions to warn others that she is not safe), but more that he escapes jams no matter how much he screws up. Mostly, though, Don’t Move struggles to surprise and take advantage of its central idea.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
