Review: INTRUDER Brings Music, Madness, and Murder to Theaters
[Images courtesy IFC Midnight]
Intruder
Written and directed by Travis Zariwny
Copyright 2016
Is Intruder a home invasion horror story? A stalker movie? Maybe a mix of suspenseful set-pieces and classic music set in a very rainy Pacific Northwest? Unfortunately, the very interesting parts of Intruder don’t end up mixing into a satisfying whole.
Heading into a weekend full of violent rainstorms, professional cellist Elizabeth (Louise Linton) faces some major decisions looming as she cocoons in her Portland apartment. Should she accept a summer study program in London? Will her relationship with boyfriend Justin (Zach Myers) survive the separation? Or would this be the perfect way to end both her personal relationship with Justin and escape the toxic supervision of her mentor Vincent (Moby)? Maybe John (John Robinson), the helpful neighbor Elizabeth met at the Laundromat, can help her figure things out.
One of these men turns out to have very malevolent and possessive designs on Elizabeth, and turns her home from a haven to the least safe place in her world.
In any suspense movie, and especially in one featuring a young woman pitted against an obsessive stalker, buildup and inevitability are everything. The best movies in the stalker subgenre, like Play Misty for Me or The Hitcher, have plots that feel both plausible and unavoidable. When an audience feels “there but for the grace of God go I,” then these movies work. Viewers care about the protagonists, not puzzled, impatient, or contemptuous about their decisions.
But too often in Intruder, Elizabeth makes decisions that seem inexplicable coming from the highly intelligent, capable women we’re supposed to see her as. Or she fails to notice things in her immediate environment that left me baffled at her obliviousness. As a result, I spent much of this movie wondering why Elizabeth acted the way she did.
Which is a shame, because there are many strong elements in Intruder that were very well done. Composer Nathaniel Levisay’s brooding, atmospheric score, interspersed with beautiful classical music, works at building a feeling of unease and dread. Writer/Director Travis Z uses the small confined spaces of Elizabeth’s apartment as a character in it’s own right.
Intruder has a familiar feel to genre fans, not necessarily due to the “woman in peril” story. What’s familiar? Seeing the creative talent involved, both behind and in front of the camera, in bigger projects later on. If you heard about John Boyega landing the role of Finn in The Force Awakens and thought, “Hey, it’s that guy from Attack the Block!” you know the feeling.
Writer/director Travis Zariwny has gone on to better things (in a manner of speaking), as directing Intruder helped land him the gig directing 2016’s Cabin Fever reboot. Louise Linton, who earned a law degree while landing acting roles, also formed the production company (Stormchaser Films) which made Intruder (and appeared as Deputy Winston in the Cabin Fever reboot).
In the end, Intruder may not be a suspense movie for the ages, but it’s interesting, especially for hard core suspense fans. We’ll probably be hearing and seeing from the people involved in the future.
Maybe even in the next science fiction blockbuster.
You can catch the movie on Video On Demand, and more information about it can be found on the IFC Midnight website.
