Shut In Review

 

Shut In is a thriller movie. The film is produced by The Daily Wire, Bonfire Legend, and Voltage Pictures and distributed by The Daily Wire. Shut In is written by Melanie Toast and directed by D.J. Caruso.

The story is a mother of two named Jessica Nash is planning on moving so she can have a fresh start on life. However once her ex-boyfriend and his friend come over and confront her then lock her up in the pantry. Now Jessica has to find a way out, and she needs to do it quickly her kids are going to be in danger.

Initial Reaction

Now I'll admit at first I had no interest in this film. But two changed my mind. 1) The last Daily Wire movie I watched was Run Hide Fight, and I thought that was pretty good. 2) D.J. Caruso. I know him from films such as Disturbia and Eagle Eye. Disturbia I really enjoyed, and I think overall Eagle Eye is a decent enough movie. So with those two things combined I figured I give it a shot.

Cons

I've got nothing to say. Just move on.

Middle Ground

The only gray area with Shut In was the bad guys. I thought they were just standard. Which by the end of the day that wasn't too much of a problem, but cause there could've been just a little bit more. Not too much mind you, just a tiny bit.

Pros

One positive I've gotta give the movie is the overall idea. Now I'm not a parent, but if any who reading this are them let tell you this idea is pretty terrifying. Imagine being locked away somewhere, and you powerless to protect your kids from some very horrible people. Like I said I'm not a parent, but if I was one this would be one of my many nightmares if I had children. What I also want to give the film credit for is it's quite scary. Sure there are some violent moments, but what really made the scare factor here work is because 1) You're scared/nervous something might happen to this VERY young kids, and 2) I don't have claustrophobia, but seeing Jessica (our main character) just trapped in there and trying to get out did get me on edge a lot during the runtime. So what really makes the movie scary is the fact that that you just want our main star to get out of where they're trapped from, and hopefully be relieved that nothing bad has happened to the children. What also made the movie enjoyable was the performances. Mostly from Rainey Qualley, Vincent Gallo, and Luciana VanDette. Rainey really made us care about Jessica with how she handled her more emotional scenes, and Vincent even though I found his care just be okay, man did he do a fantastic job. He truly made the character of Sammy very creepy. And the reason I'm giving Luciana props is despite being no older than I think four maybe five, she was really good. Pretty hard to find a talented child actor like that. The last thing I'll give the movie credit for is the character of Jessica. At first she does start out salty and very impatient with her own kids, but once she's trapped she goes on a journey that very much changes her. She's clean after a long history of drug abuse, but now not only is she trapped, can't do much to protect her kids, but now there is a little bit of temptation with her as well. So throughout the movie you can really connect with her (especially if you're going through sobriety), and all you want to happen is for her to come out on top.

Shut In was a very enjoyable thriller flick. The premise is very scary, it keeps you on edge, the performances were really good, and I found our main character to be well written. The only mix bag was our bad guys, but it didn't hurt the movie too much.

My final rating is Good.

So that's going to do it for me. Come back on Thursday, Feb 17th for a brand new Is It True? For that one I'll be tackling an X-Men fan theory. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.