主人公のテオ・コンロイは自身の年齢から一回りも離れた若く美しい女優スザンナと結婚をし、娘のエラを授かった。しかしテオに対する世間の風当たりは厳しく、冷ややかな目で見られていた。それは、テオの前妻が入浴中に溺死をするという死に方をしており「テオが妻を何らかの理由で殺害して、事故死に見せかけたのではないか？」という噂によるものであった。テオが妻のスザンナの仕事ぶりを見に行こうと現場に立ち寄った時にも、妻が話を通していたはずなのに噂が原因で立ち入ることを拒否されてしまう。そんな日常に疲れていたある日、コンロイ家はウェールズにある貸別荘で休暇を過ごすことに。娘のエラは初日の夜、人影を見たと不安そうにしているがテオは取り合わなかった。しかしそんなテオにも不可解な怪奇現象は降りかかってくるのであった─。
監督: デヴィッド・コープ
脚本: Daniel Kehlmann / デヴィッド・コープ
音楽: ジェフ・ザネリ
制作: ジェイソン・ブラム / Derek Ambrosi / Dean O'Toole
撮影監督: Angus Hudson
If you enjoy reading my Spoiler-Free reviews, please follow my blog @ https://www.msbreviews.com This movie has every ingredient to be a horror hit. David Koepp has written and/or directed phenomenal films: Jurassic Park, Mission: Impossible, Spider-Man, War of the Worlds, Stir of Echoes... the list keeps going. Add Kevin Bacon and Amanda Seyfried, and you've got yourself two fantastic leads. A horror flick set in a "haunted house", where the main characters go through some sort of a psychologically disturbing journey? The synopsis convinces me! So, with all of these features, there's no way this movie will fail, right? Yeah... It couldn't be more disappointing. You Should Have Left ultimately doesn't know what genre it belongs to. Koepp clearly takes inspiration from a bunch of other films (some from his own filmography), completely forgetting to develop the one at hand. Everything about this movie feels unfinished, or, to be completely honest, everything feels like it's just an idea or a concept yet to be explored. Bacon and Seyfried interpret characters far from being persons with motivations, aspirations, or even personalities, especially Susanna, who is manipulated as a mere plot device to make things happen. She's an actress... that's her entire characterization. As the viewer, I finish the film without knowing a single thing about any character. Theo has some sort of "past" (like every other Blumhouse's main character of a horror flick), which is barely explained in detail. The only moment where some backstory is given to his character is an utterly unbelievable exposition dump between the mother and her daughter. This is the only personal development that Theo receives: an event that happened in his life described in a forced conversation between characters that definitely shouldn't be having it. Koepp's movie is marketed as a psychological horror film, but it doesn't even possess the necessary technical attributes to be scary or suspenseful. The "haunted house" looks way too bright, modern, and not claustrophobic at all. The editing (Derek Ambrosi) is weirdly out of sync with the score (Geoff Zanelli), and despite Angus Hudson's cinematography boasting a few nice shots, it doesn't really help to create the necessary atmosphere. It just doesn't look nor feels like a horror film. Just like with the characters, Koepp doesn't know where he wants the story to go. There's an attempt at creating a drama within the family that doesn't work because, well, there are no *characters*, so I couldn't care less about their arguments. Then, an unnecessary sci-fi element is introduced, and it's bafflingly left unexplained. Finally, a mystery surrounding the house's size is approached, but just like the rest of the movie, it doesn't go beyond its concept. In fact, this is the most captivating aspect of the whole film, but it's only introduced after one hour of runtime. This movie tries to follow so many different paths genre-wise that it forgets to actually choose one... Overall, You Should Have Left had tremendous potential to be a genuinely intriguing psychological horror flick, but David Koepp gets lost in the many ideas present in the film. Kevin Bacon delivers an excellent performance, and Amanda Seyfried (underused) also lends her undeniably talent, but both interpret characters far from being so. Koepp's screenplay holds so many underdeveloped concepts and extremely superficial attempts at balancing distinct genres that it totally forgets to actually tell a convincing story with complete character arcs and interesting plot points. Even technically, its well-lit, not-scary-at-all house doesn't generate a suspenseful or spooky atmosphere. The editing and the score are also weirdly put together. Unfortunately, it's underwhelming and disappointing. I can't really recommend it. Rating: D+
You Should Have Left (2020) is a psychological horror film with an intriguing premise and eerie atmosphere, enhanced by jump scares and unsettling sound design. While the mysterious opening successfully builds suspense, the film suffers from weak character development, unclear backstories, and unresolved plot elements, leaving viewers with more questions than answers. Despite these flaws, the movie delivers a fair amount of tension and remains an enjoyable experience for fans of the genre. Read the full review here: (Indonesian version : alunauwie.com)
