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I SEE YOU (2019)
Director: Adam Randall Cast: Helen Hunt, Jon Tenney, Owen Teague, Libe Barer, Judah Lewis, Gregory Alan Williams MPAA
Rating: Running Time: 1:36 Release Date: 12/6/19 (limited) |
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Review by Mark Dujsik | December 5, 2019 Screenwriter Devon Graye is so intent on fooling us that I See You never finds a solid foundation for its story. The plot is all over the place, beginning with the abduction of a 10-year-old boy and, after a lot of twists and a lengthy flashback that begins the entire story again, eventually solving that crime. In between, though, it's almost as if Graye and director Adam Randall could not care less about that central mystery. There are, after all, too many narrative tricks and acts of misdirection with which they want to inundate us. After the boy's disappearance, the movie brings us to a fine suburban house where most of the plot unfolds. There, we meet Jackie (Helen Hunt), a therapist who recently had an affair, and her son Connor (Judah Lewis), who barely hides his disgust for his mother, as well as husband Greg (Jon Tenney), who now sleeps on the couch. He's also a police detective, assigned to investigate the case of the missing kid. Following some routine scenes of investigation, though, Randall only occasionally reminds us that of seemingly important plot point with shots of the boy's face on posters. Most of the story involves some strange happenings in the house, such as disappearing silverware and Greg being locked in a closet. The suspicion is that someone in the house is causing chaos. Eventually, a body has to be buried. There are other details, hidden in plain sight, that only start to make sense when the filmmakers stop the movie in its tracks to return to the beginning, seeing everything unfold from a previously concealed perspective. Revealing the movie's big twist would be unfair, if only because the concept of it is a bit of surprise. Indeed, the idea behind what's happening in the house is inherently frightening and discomforting, but as presented here, it's a long anticlimax, showing us exactly what we already have pieced together once a pair of other players is introduced. We wait, then, for a few more revelations that come out of nowhere, because, again, the sole point here is to surprise us with new information—whether or not it makes any sense. I See You is akin to the filmmakers putting together a puzzle in front of us, but they forgot to give us a reason to care about the pieces or the big picture. Copyright © 2019 by Mark Dujsik. All rights reserved. |
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