Mark Reviews Movies: WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING

Follow on Facebook | Follow on Twitter | Become a Patron

Review by Mark Dujsik | September 2, 2021

We Need to Do Something gets the big idea and a lot of the smaller details right. The problem, perhaps, is that the screenplay by Max Booth III (adapting his novella) falters in trying to give us a bigger sense of story than this premise actually needs.

It all begins with a storm—or at least it seems just to be one. A family of four gathers in the bathroom of their house to take shelter, in case a tornado happens to form. Things are uncomfortable immediately, and it only has a little to do with the confined space, the lack of any entertainment (aside from some playing cards), and the fear of all that thunder and lightning.

This family has problems. Teenaged Mel (Sierra McCormick) has irritated her parents by not answering her mother's phone calls, trying to make sure she's safe and coming home before the storm arrives. Mel and her younger brother Bobby (John James Cronin) rarely stop insulting or making fun of each other, and the jabs have just that right tinge of specificity and trying to hit a target that goes a bit beyond playful sibling rivalry.

Mother Diane (Vinessa Shaw) wants the two to stop the bickering and bantering, and father Robert (Pat Healy) has a short fuse that seems to get shorter by the minute. He's especially annoyed that his wife keeps getting and ignoring calls on her cellphone, because, from his tone, we can tell that he knows exactly who's calling Diane.

The dynamics of this quartet overall and of these assorted relationships are the strongest thing about Booth's screenplay, which quickly and efficiently tells us everything we need to know about this family, these characters, the strains on their various relationships, and why too much time in this restricted space could be a problem. Soon enough, there's a large, blindingly bright flash of lightning outside and very close to the house. The crash of thunder seems especially loud, and a bit later, everyone in the bathroom discovers why.

A tree from the backyard (the one under which they buried the family dog, Mel notes, which really stings Bobby, who just thought the pup ran away) has crashed through the house. Worse, it's blocking the bathroom door in such a way that no one can get more than an arm through the crack. As for the worst of their problems, it's either the lack of food or the fact that no one's cellphone has the battery or serve to call for help. Once they've been in there long enough, the whole family starts to believe there might not be anyone to call. Maybe it wasn't just an ordinary storm.

That's the setup, as well as most of the conflict and only a hint of what strange things are in store for this family, of Booth and director Sean King O'Grady's movie, which escalates the tensions, arguments, and confrontations among this clan with a pretty exacting sense of these characters and relationships. Then, there's the matter of whatever the hell is happening outside the bathroom, occasionally sneaking into the room and certainly making the prospect of leaving a bit of a question.

To reveal those surprises would be unfair, but some of them are quite effective, mainly because we can't see anything beyond the little bit of light and bits of tree branch just through the crack in the door. In vague details, the family receive a visitor just outside the door, and there's a real shock when a voice suddenly comes from where it shouldn't. One threat keeps slithering through the crack, and a little audio play involving potential rescue and amplifying thuds makes us think in apocalyptic terms.

Escalation really is the game here. Robert, who's clearly an alcoholic (if his chugging from a bottle of mouthwash and later chowing on disinfectant wipes is any indication), keeps becoming angrier and angrier, yelling at anyone who dares to annoy him and pounding on the door while cursing up his own storm. Diane continues to try to play the peacekeeper with her husband, but if those phone calls weren't enough of a sign that she has had enough of this marriage, her mounting disapproval of Robert, especially when he aims his rage at the kids, definitely makes it clear.

Mel becomes increasingly convinced that she and her friend Amy (Lisette Alexis) may have had a hand in causing whatever's happening outside, and a series of flashbacks, involving the girls' budding romance and some vague back story about Amy's belief that she—or something inside her—is dead, mainly serve to give some explanation—as underdeveloped and ridiculous as it may be—to the mystery, cause, and reality of the storm and consequences. It's unnecessary, considering that all of this is a lot more eerie and tantalizing because neither we nor the characters actually know anything. If anything, the memories of Mel and Amy together only undermine the momentum of the scenes in the bathroom.

Momentum is vital here, and while O'Grady maintains it with some skill, Booth's screenplay and reliance on creating a reason for this story get in the way a bit too often and, eventually, with too much of a debilitating effect. The lack of any real resolution to We Need to Do Something only solidifies that something significant is missing from this tale.

Back to Home

Buy Related Products

Buy the Book

Buy the Book (Kindle Edition)