Reviewed by Melissa Antoinette Garza
There have been way too many films entitled Intruders or The Intruders in the last five years, all of which have nothing to do with the other, so if you want to see this one after you read the review, be careful while renting.
This film follows Anna (Beth Riesgraf), an agoraphobic woman who is unable to leave her home and has been for the last ten years. Her brother had been caring for her, but as he succumbed to disease, she found herself alone and more fearful than ever.
The estate lawyer and her food delivery boy Dan (Rory Culkin) urge her to attend the funeral, but the phobia is too strong and she stays home. Three criminals who hear that Anna has a lot of money in the house assume she’ll be gone for the day and break in to steal the cash. Instead, Vance (Joshua Mikel), his harsher brother J.P. (Jack Kesy) and Perry (Martin Starr) the most evil of the bunch, argue over what to do with Anna and the situation they now face.
Perry wants to kill her. After all, she’s seen their faces and could easily have them arrested. Vance the nicest one of the bunch (not that it says much) refuses and tries to urge them all to leave. J.P. gives Vance the option to leave but tells him that he’s staying with Perry to finish the job. He reluctantly agrees to stay wanting to both impress his older brother and do his part as he needs the money as well.
A short time later, Dan arrives and recognizes Vance. Anna who has feelings for Dan assumes the worst and thinks he sent them over there and is part of the plan. He tries to explain that he would never do that to her, but she doesn’t know what to believe.
Within moments the tables are turned. The men are locked in a basement, but this isn’t any ordinary basement. The stairs are pulled into the wall and different doors lead to different areas of the home. Anna has control of all of the rooms with devices that unlock the doors. She has full video and audio. As they look around, Perry realizes that there were people there before who didn’t make it out. Body parts are found in freezers of the unknown victims.
It’s important to note that Anna isn’t a bad person. That isn’t a spoiler. It’s quite evident from the first scene that she has some mental issues but overall is a good person. She’s damaged. She has a lot of inner demons and seeks a certain type of revenge that her distorted mind believes leads to forgiveness, but she isn’t evil.
She reminds me of Farrah Fawcett’s character, Marjorie, in Extremities (1986). The stakes are similar only the trap is much more elaborate than a fireplace that locks. Anna like Marjorie is a flawed heroine pushed over the edge by unspeakable abuse.
Intruders is a quality thriller. It isn’t one to keep the viewer on the edge of their seat. It isn’t like Vacancy (2007) or Estranged (2015). It isn’t as brutal as those films and doesn’t invoke the heart-pounding intensity of those. That said, it is a movie with great acting, a solid plot, strong writing, and an excellent cast. All of that makes for a good drama.
There are twists and turns, but they’re not shocking nor are they done to shock. In fact, it’s more explanations of her behavior and revelations about how Anna became damaged than the usual surprising Gotcha! moments seen today.
Had this film been released in the 70s or 80s, it would have appealed to a larger demographic than today. Nowadays, many fans have set in their minds what horror, suspense, and thrillers should be, and if anything deviates from that rather than applauding it’s originality, the film is labeled boring or pretentious. That in itself is sad, because Intruders is really worth the watch as it shows us the mindset of someone unstable but innately good.
The best way to describe it is if Norman Bates was revealed as the killer in Psycho (1960) within the first 15 minutes and the production openly focused on his motivation and unstable reactions throughout. Don’t get me wrong, Psycho is perfect the way it is. It’s my favorite film of all time, tied only with 12 Angry Men (1957). Still, Anna and Norman have a lot in common and probably would’ve made good friends.
Everyone was fantastic in their role. It was great to see Rory Culkin all grown up and in a role that fit him perfectly.
Beth Riesgraf portrayed Anna perfectly and relayed the emotions in a way to make certain the audience never lost sympathy for her.
Lastly, it was mind-blowing to see Martin Starr portray such an incredible scumbag so believably. I’ve always loved his comedic acting in NTSF:SD:SUV. He was hilarious in the episode of The League he was on. I always just saw him in the role of a nice, funny guy. To see him act in such a serious and cruel role showed off his versatility and blew me away. I never thought I’d want a character he portrayed to be killed, but Starr was able to capture the ruthlessness and evil nature of Perry in such a realistic way.
Overall: 7.5/10
