Review of The Guest (2014) by Phillip D — 04 Feb 2015

Of all the films released this year, The Guest is perhaps one of the best in terms of control over the message, tone and path of a movie. While films like Interstellar and The Imitation Game were better movies in my mind, The Guest feels like the academic paper of the bunch.

While it doesn't offer as much original creativity or blatant social commentary, Wingard runs this film like a science experiment, clearly defining goals while completely minimizing elements deemed unnecessary.

The Guest dips its fingers into a couple pots, dabbling in the psychological thriller, classic horror and a bit of the secret agent/killer dynamic that made the Bourne movies such a perfect trilogy. Along the way, dialogue is routinely minimized in favor of a Kubrick-esque approach that combines silence, tonal sound and a small selection of perfect songs in order to keep the suspense high and communicate plot occurrences.

The director is careful not to let his film fall to far into either the on-the-run spy concept or the cliched killer on the loose that has defined so many bad horror movies. The Guest sits somewhere in between, repeatedly forcing the audience to question if the main character is actually evil.

In many ways, Dan Stevens' character is a gray area, acting as both the hero and villain while delivering a heavily stylized performance that is gripping on screen. And throughout the film, the strong goal orientation continues to keep the movie from slipping.

It entertains until the very end and there isn't a hint of the typical Hollywood junk that ruins this type of film. The acting does tend to fall by the wayside, but again, you get the feeling that Wingard never cared much about that anyways.

The focus is on the performance and the tension, although I think that, despite some reviews I have seen, The Guest does hide a bit of social commentary on the use and discard attitude of governments in regards to soldiers.

The critique is very muted and isn't allowed to eat up the film, but I think it exists nonetheless. Ultimately, The Guest is a film clinic on how to achieve goals without sacrificing originality and tone.

Stevens delivers, Wingard adds an impressive notch to his belt and I am calling The Guest as the next great cult classic.