I love a good horror/thriller film and what better time to watch one than on a Saturday night. This one’s from 2016 and stars Naomi Watts I thought the trailer looked interesting, so without further ado here’s my Shut In Blu-ray review.
- Shut In (2016)
- Genre: Horror / Thriller
- Written by: Christina Hodson
- UK Rating 15
- Discs: 1
- Released By Arrow Films
- Blu-ray Released: 10 April 2017
Plot
Richard Portman and his wife Mary have a troubled teenager Steven, who has recently been expelled from school. Mary (Naomi Watts) is actually Steven’s stepmother and works with troubled kids. However she is unable to help her stepson and the decision is taken to send Steven away.
Richard drives Steven to his new school however before they can reach their intended destination they are involved in a car crash resulting in the death of Richard and leaving Steven brain damaged and unable to communicate.
Six months later Steven is back home with his stepmother. Mary does everything for him, but he never makes any sign that he is still present. Is he shut in?
Mary finds herself increasingly unable to cope with the demands of her stepson and work, in fact it looks like she may be close to a mental breakdown.
Things really take a turn for the worse when a young deaf child she has been helping goes missing. What really lies behind her erratic behaviour?
Style / Direction
The film is directed by Farren Blackburn with the cinematography handled by Yves Bélanger.
Shut in is more of psychological thriller that turns into a horror. The problem I had with the film was the build up to then inevitable climax was I found quite simply dull. I was waiting for the twist to occur or just something interesting for the first 45 – 50 minutes. That’s quite a long time but eventually it did come and was pretty good although I’ll be honest I had thought it one of the potential twists.
Pacing and plot are Shut In’s biggest problems.
Music / Audio Effects
The music is provided by Nathaniel Méchaly and I’d say it has a functional score that sets the right tone but it does have a lot of stinger moments.
Acting / Characters
Reasonable performances nothing outstanding, Naomi Watts does an ok job as the star and lead character.
It falls on Naomi Watts to keep the film moving and interesting early on and unfortunately she struggles to do so, but that’s more down to the way the plot unfolds.
Cast
- Naomi Watts
- Oliver Platt
- Charlie Heaton
- Jacob Tremblay
- David Cubitt
- Clémentine Poidatz
Conclusion: Shut In (2016) Film Review
As I mentioned earlier the first 50 minutes felt kind of hard going, the plot just wasn’t interesting enough. That said the overall idea is a good one and once the twist ending comes into effect the film is pretty good.
So if you can get past the slow and uninteresting two thirds of the film the ending makes it just about worth that effort.
Pacing and plot are Shut In’s biggest problems.
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Conclusion: Shut In Blu-ray Review
Clearly the picture and sound are outstanding as it’s a brand new film but what else do you get when you purchase the Blu-ray version?
Well nothing in fact, to be fair I don’t really think any extras are required in particular case. Some films I consider them a must, cult classics and truly great films but I’m more than happy to have nothing else to watch.
Popcorn Cinema Rating: Shut In (2016)
MOVIE RATING: WORTH WATCHING
BLU-RAY RATING: GOOD
EXTRAS NONE
Shut In (2016) Blu-ray is available now from Amazon.
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Shut In (2016) Film Trailer
For those of you yet to see the film I’ll leave you with a little taster with the trailer…
Clip not be representative of the Blu-ray version
That’s my Shut In Blu-ray Review, if you have any thoughts on this film leave them in the comment section below:
Summary: Shut In (2016) Blu-ray Review
Movie title: Shut In (2016)
Duration: 91 mins
Director(s): Farren Blackburn
Actor(s): Naomi Watts, Oliver Platt, Charlie Heaton, Jacob Tremblay
Genre: Horror, Thriller
- Movie Rating
- Blu-ray Rating
Summary
A great idea for a horror thriller that sadly struggles to hold your interest for the first part of the film.
