Review of Shut In (2016) by Kim H — 25 Mar 2017

I was so disappointed in this movie, it had great potential, but fell flat. I will say that the acting was done well, especially by Naomi Watts. She did a phenomenal job portraying someone who thinks they are going crazy, as well as someone who feels guilty about not being able to care for her step-son anymore.

There was a couple of jump scares and the basement scenes that helped to drive up the tension. There was a bit more of a horror aspect towards the end of the movie, which was done well. And I did like that most of the movie was light enough that you could actually see what was going on.

Now as for what I didn't like about it, as well as what I think would have been a better ending (courtesy of my step-dad's imagination).

Spoilers Ahead.

Major Spoilers Ahead, so stop reading if you don't want to know what happens.

As soon as the little boy got lost, I immediately called that he was alive and living in her walls. The part that I couldn't figure out was why. I figured he had a good relationship with Mary that he would have came right to her instead of hiding.

Then as soon as she started tripping and having weird dreams, I knew her stepson was able to move around and drug her. This may not have been as apparent to a lot of people, so I can let that slide. And it also explains why Tom hides in the walls, because Stephen doesn't want him there and is trying to find him quietly so Mary doesn't know he can walk around.

The part that really got me was how all of a sudden (at least to the audience), Stephen was obsessed with Mary. They could have somehow showed it earlier before the accident, and I think that would have increased the creep factor.

How it should have ended would be having Stephen kill everyone, and then get back into bed and continue to act like he was still paralyzed. It would have given it a Primal Fear vibe, which would have been awesome.