Director: David Liz
Year: 2021
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Creature Feature
Plot:
Trying to help curse her PTSD, a couple decides to embark on a restful vacation at a rest home in the middle of nowhere as a means of helping her get through it, but when they realize that there’s a devious nature to his hosting duties and must try to get away before he puts his plans into action.
Review:
This was a decent enough if somewhat flawed genre effort. One of the best features here is the rather solid ambiance around the ranch that tends to linger throughout as this one offers the kind of atmosphere that’s quite effective. Most of what happens here is built around concepts where it’s obvious something is wrong but no one mentions it with the sketchy behavior of the owner tending to the local animals, the secretive behavior whenever they try to pry into what happened, and the series of lackluster storylines about being so far away from civilization that they don’t notice anyone around or can’t get any contact with the outside world. Despite all these obvious clues that something’s not right and they’re staying there, it also enhances the atmosphere of the situation rather nicely so that the later half when his devious plans are brought out in some brief yet still brutal and graphic scenes that give this some rather fun parts to hold it up.
There are some really big issues at the heart of this one that really brings it down. The main detriment found here is the wrong-headed central theme of the film where its intentions and purpose are way off-base here as the central point is indeed quite noble in attempting to find a root cause of racism and trying to remove it surgically. That is completely undone, though, by the whole thing being attempted on couples that already employ that as the main targets are clearly mixed-race couples who have already ended that stigma to begin with so what’s going on comes off as more of a condemnation of it than actually trying to remove it. This mixed-up messaging gives the film an incredibly off-putting and jumbled tone that’s at odds with what his speeches and notes try to provide context for so it’s all awkward when it’s finally revealed.
The other issue with this one, which is a bit heavily foreshadowed earlier about the setup, is that this one takes so long to get to its point that it’s quite easy to lose interest in what’s going on. While the final half here is far more energetic than what came before it, it’s all too late to save this one as the first half is somewhat dull and underwhelming with the majority of these scenes showing their oblivious nature to everything happening that not only makes this dull with nothing much happening but also makes them slightly less likable for going through and staying there despite all the hints that something’s off. These issues really take a toll on this one that is hard to come back from, and especially with the other factor here being quite detrimental as well, really end up making this one somewhat disappointing.
Overview: *.5/5
A generally disappointing effort without much going for it, the positives on display here are just not enough to overcome the flaws which are quite substantial and really hold this down. Really only go into this one if you’re a fan of the style or approach but most others out there who aren’t turned on by these factors should heed caution with the film.
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