Saturday August 15th in Chicago. Joel Edgerton put him stamp on this film as writer, producer, director and antagonist. Edgerton does a nice job executing the creepy, obsessive guy stalking a couple trope. He kept the story really simple and let the actors act. The film had an estimated $5 million budget and has grossed $31 million to date. As a director, he kept things tight, kept the pace moving and didn't rely on too much on jump scare to amp up the tension.
Simon (Jason Bateman) and Robyn (Rebecca Hall) are an upper middle class couple that have relocated to LA from Chicago. They move into a sweet house in the hills, Simon has a high paying job with a security firm and Robyn is an interior decorator who's company is still in Chicago but that doesn't really play into the story. Right off the bat Simon and Robyn run into Gordo (Edgerton) and old high school classmate of Simon's. He's noticeably a little off but seemingly ok and he takes a shine to Robyn...
And who wouldn't?
It doesn't take long for Gordo to overstep the boundaries into the realm of creepy stalker. Mysterious gifts show up on the doorstep while Robyn is home alone and the dog goes missing. Little by little Robyn starts to dig into the relationship that Simon had with Gordo back in high school and its not good. She also starts learn that maybe Simon isn't quite the great guy he comes off as (Robyn & Simon carry a lot of baggage that eventually comes to the surface), in fact the lines of villainy are blurred as I wondered just who was the bad guy here? Gordo or Simon? At the end they both are.
As I mentioned earlier, Edgerton does a nice job amping up the tension and he even throws in a nice ending that I did not see coming. There's a reason this picture received a 92% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Edgerton plays a good villain, the kind that is trying to get revenge for a prank gone wrong that messed up his life. Bateman is really good at playing a certain type of character (the sarcastic, snarky but sometimes good hearted guy) and he's good as an upwardly mobile cut throat business man. Hall is good as the somewhat damaged wife who realizes she doesn't know a whole lot about her husband. This film is worth seeing, pure and simple.
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