Review of You Should Have Left (2020) by Davrosdaleks1 — 19 Jun 2020

In the horror film You Should Have Left based on the German novella by Daniel Kehlmann, a couple (played by Kevin Bacon and Amanda Seyfried) and their young daughter (Avery Tiiu Essex) take a vacation in a rental house in Wales. Soon, the father starts noticing weird things about the place. I thought this was decent.

This has a pretty good psychological angle going on as the driving force is the couple's relationship and the husband's past. Even if you can tell where things are going, it's interesting to see things play out.

The house helps push the unsettling mood. A lot of this the film is shot during the daytime, but that doesn't detract from the eeriness of the decor. This isn't one of those creepy old houses but a sleek, modern, European one. However, it is still scary due to it's minimalist, austere look and muted colors.

Admittedly, the best scare is the first and none of the others quite match. I can't say this is the scariest or most inventive of horror films. However, I felt things worked well enough and there are some nice visuals.

I've heard complaints about this being drawn out. Personally, I thought there wasn't anything that felt too superfluous, though the third act could've been cut down a little. I won't lie that this could be too slow for some, but I felt that the movie justified itself more than it didn't and had a nice ending. The dialogue often doesn't quite feel natural. Both Bacon and Seyfried have trouble making it work at times, especially the latter. Child actress Avery Tiiu Essex does a surprisingly good job as their daughter.

Overall, I can't say this this is a must-see, but if you like haunted house movies or psychological horror then you may like this. It's a nice time-waster when you're washing the dishes or something.