Director: Tucia Lyman
Year: 2020
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Suspense/Thriller
Plot:
Convinced he’s going to do something dangerous, a worried mother turns to recording her son in order to keep an eye on him so he won’t shoot up the school, only to discover a far darker soul than she imagined hiding inside him.
Review:
Overall, this one here was a pretty enjoyable and dark effort. What really works well here is the films’ theme of whether or not a mother’s love can prevent something evil from happening. Despite everything that he does here, from the cruel practical jokes and torments to the spying on him and her belief that he’s getting away with things even though he’s well aware of the consequences of his actions, manages to create quite a deep look at the fact that her helplessness at helping him drives the entirety of this one along. Regardless of what he does, that she keeps herself attempting to reach out and help him become a better person speaks a lot to the impact a mother’s love has on a person.
There are some problems here. The main issue is the fact that the film goes way too obvious about setting him up to be a heartless, crazed psychopath that we don’t really care at all about whether or not he gets help. Rather than attempting to build up any kind of sympathy that might endear us towards him potentially getting better or even playing up his side of the story about not being crazy after all, this one is so clear-cut and obvious that it doesn’t make us truly care whether or not he’s redeemed at the end. He’s too maniacal and cunning that gets away with constructing elaborate traps and machinations behind people’s back without any repercussions is too easy and simply doesn’t feel earned, which is what holds this one down.
Overview: **.5/5
With a lot to say about emotional abuse and trauma but doing so in the most categorically simplified manner possible, this dark and disturbing thriller has plenty to like for fans of this style even though it does feel cliched and too safe with the material. As mentioned, those that enjoy this kind of documentary approach to the makings of a psychopath or curious about the subject matter, while those with no interest in the format should heed extreme caution.
This review ran as part of our month-long Women in Horror Month celebrations. Click the banner below to check out all of our reviews and interviews we've conducted for the event:
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