***WARNING - MAJOR SPOILERS***
My hubby played the trailer for me, and it looked interesting. I've liked a number of Blumhouse movies, so I said, "sure, why not?". And I have to tell you that 2 minute trailer was the best 2 minutes of the whole thing.
What did they get right? The scenery. It was a nice looking place to rent for a weekend getaway. What did they get wrong? Pretty much everything else. Don't continue if you want to watch with an open mind and not get spoilers.
For starters, Ben, Margo, Ellie and Thomas are there as a group for the weekend. Ellie and Thomas brought their kids, Lucy and Spencer. Ben and Margo are childless but they like their friends' kids. So you'd think as a friend/family getaway they'd want to have fun but also be mindful of the safety of these minors. However, there is a LOT of alcohol flowing. I suspect the mom, Ellie, is an alcoholic. And Margo vapes pot, though it's not around the kids. But to have all that weed, wine and beer at a family-friendly vacay is off-putting and unnecessary.
Then there's the relationship between parents Ellie and Thomas. They seem to be a happy couple, but then are frequently snarky. Well, at least Ellie is. The tension between them is palpable, and my own kids believe that they are present that weekend to be a family, but mom and dad are in the midst of a separation or divorce. Yes, the relationship seems that strained.
The following day, though, they have a hike planned. Hooray! Maybe some physical activity (marked with Ellie bringing gin & tonic in a water bottle) will make those endorphins kick in and there will be happiness. The group goes down an established trail, but at some point the area is overgrown and no longer hike-worthy. Do they turn around and go back? Nope, Ben wants to see if the trail picks up again on the other side of this thick brush so he chops away. Love and behold, there is an abandoned, crumbling building! It clearly looks unsafe, so of course the smart thing to do is to explore it. They come across a deep pit with no bottom in sight, where these youngsters are allowed to peer into it. Yeah, no chance the ground could be unstable and they could fall in.
Well, exploration time is done, so let's regroup at the rental compound. While Ben and Thomas are having guy time outside, Ellie and Margo are in one of the cabins, drinking again, while Ellie explains why she and Thomas are awkwardly being snippy. She explains, at length, that they had a foursome with their other friends, Kyle and Katie. It's not so much that they had a swinger's night, so much as it was that Ellie had a mind-blowing experience with Kyle, but it wasn't the same for Thomas and Katie. So, it's awkward because it was such a great thing for Ellie that she felt like it was cheating. In response, Margo tries to help by offering to keep the kids in her cabin so the parents can have a night to themselves.
From here, the movie nosedives. It's discovered the next morning the kids aren't anywhere around. Ben frantically returns to the old building since the kids were obsessed with the "el brilliante" light only they could see in the pit the day before. He witnesses the brother and sister fling themselves into it. Oh, no! He's so horrified by this he takes his time shambling back to the cabins, talking to Margo on his cell phone, trying to explain, weirdly, what happened. But fear not! As he reaches the perimeter of the camp site, the kids are there, running around and safe!
The remainder of this film brings us the kids becoming stranger and stranger, initially only to Ben as the other 3 adults don't see the change in the kiddos. But it's disclosed that Ben has mental health issues and is on Lithium. It doesn't touch on what those issues are. However, since the weird behavior seems evident only to the crazy guy, he wants to convince the rest of the group he isn't, in fact, crazy about THIS. That's when he finally reveals that while Ellie and Thomas were having morning nookie, he watched the kids swandive into the darkness, but they didn't initially tell the parents their kids were even missing because they didn't want to worry them. Cue all the in-fighting, verbal smears, and accusations!
You'd think all this animosity would lead to at least cutting the weekend short and having the parents take their precious youths home, away from the nutcase that declared he witnessed their demise. But, nope, they hung around long enough for the siblings to do one more assault on poor Ben, who winds up killing little Spencer! Mortified, Thomas makes a call to the authorities, only to be told someone will show up IN A FEW HOURS.
Instead of taking matters into their own hands, piling everyone up into one vehicle, and transporting the dead child and his killer to law enforcement themselves, they elect to hang around the scene of the crime. Ellie sits by the body of her son, weeping, until the child suddenly comes back to life. Margo finally realizes Ben was right all along, after she enters the cabin to discover her friend brutally attacked, and witnesses her die. The perp is revealed to be her own child, who's shadow is shown to be insect-like, though we never actually get to see the creature itself, as the child transforms back to normal, conveniently.
Eventually, a park ranger (not even a cop) shows up, confused about who the victim is. After entering the premises, she finds the body of the mangled mom. But before she can call for backup, or do anything really, she's become the next victim. The rest happens quickly, giving the end a very rushed feeling, just to basically wrap up the whole thing. The kids subdue Margo, take her and the dead adults back to the pit, and somewhere in all this haphazard mess, it's discovered that whatever these mysterious insect creatures are, they intend to make more of themselves. Margo wakes up in the old building, and after seeing the convenient victim of the ranger being tossed into the pit, she manages to get the jump on the bug-kids and pushes THEM into it! Yay!
After having fought off her own possessed mate, and now the killer kiddos, she tries to make her escape. But wait, there's more! Before she can get away, Ben/bug shows back up before she can hightail it out of there. Hold on, Thomas finally shows up from, wait, where HAS he been since his son was killed? Anyway, he fights off Ben so Margo can make her escape. Freedom! She drives away, but for some reason feels the need to pull off onto the side of the road to let loose a primal scream! Once done, she looks up, and, dammit! There are Lucy, Spencer and Ben! The threesome hold hands, because playing Red Rover will surely keep her from getting very far. As for Margo, she guns the engine and heads straight for them. Because obviously throwing them into a bottomless pit wasn't enough to take them out, but knocking them over like bowling pins will do the trick. Is she finally victorious? Well, we don't know, because just as the SUV is about to make impact, the film stops.
By the way, it's never explained what the creatures are, where they originally came from, what their intentions were (other than to reproduce), how long they've been here, etc. The filmmakers spent more time on the orgy conversation then on the protagonists themselves. Plus, the creatures are supposedly insects, but Spencer beats some insects into mush with a rock AFTER he turns into one of them? I don't understand that. In fact, there's a lot about this movie I didn't understand. Normally I'd rewatch something to look deeper into it if I'm left perplexed, but I can't make myself sit through this again.
So, if you made it this far and still decide to watch it, don't say I didn't warn you. Although I'd recommend viewing it with some of your own alcoholic beverages...
My hubby played the trailer for me, and it looked interesting. I've liked a number of Blumhouse movies, so I said, "sure, why not?". And I have to tell you that 2 minute trailer was the best 2 minutes of the whole thing.
What did they get right? The scenery. It was a nice looking place to rent for a weekend getaway. What did they get wrong? Pretty much everything else. Don't continue if you want to watch with an open mind and not get spoilers.
For starters, Ben, Margo, Ellie and Thomas are there as a group for the weekend. Ellie and Thomas brought their kids, Lucy and Spencer. Ben and Margo are childless but they like their friends' kids. So you'd think as a friend/family getaway they'd want to have fun but also be mindful of the safety of these minors. However, there is a LOT of alcohol flowing. I suspect the mom, Ellie, is an alcoholic. And Margo vapes pot, though it's not around the kids. But to have all that weed, wine and beer at a family-friendly vacay is off-putting and unnecessary.
Then there's the relationship between parents Ellie and Thomas. They seem to be a happy couple, but then are frequently snarky. Well, at least Ellie is. The tension between them is palpable, and my own kids believe that they are present that weekend to be a family, but mom and dad are in the midst of a separation or divorce. Yes, the relationship seems that strained.
The following day, though, they have a hike planned. Hooray! Maybe some physical activity (marked with Ellie bringing gin & tonic in a water bottle) will make those endorphins kick in and there will be happiness. The group goes down an established trail, but at some point the area is overgrown and no longer hike-worthy. Do they turn around and go back? Nope, Ben wants to see if the trail picks up again on the other side of this thick brush so he chops away. Love and behold, there is an abandoned, crumbling building! It clearly looks unsafe, so of course the smart thing to do is to explore it. They come across a deep pit with no bottom in sight, where these youngsters are allowed to peer into it. Yeah, no chance the ground could be unstable and they could fall in.
Well, exploration time is done, so let's regroup at the rental compound. While Ben and Thomas are having guy time outside, Ellie and Margo are in one of the cabins, drinking again, while Ellie explains why she and Thomas are awkwardly being snippy. She explains, at length, that they had a foursome with their other friends, Kyle and Katie. It's not so much that they had a swinger's night, so much as it was that Ellie had a mind-blowing experience with Kyle, but it wasn't the same for Thomas and Katie. So, it's awkward because it was such a great thing for Ellie that she felt like it was cheating. In response, Margo tries to help by offering to keep the kids in her cabin so the parents can have a night to themselves.
From here, the movie nosedives. It's discovered the next morning the kids aren't anywhere around. Ben frantically returns to the old building since the kids were obsessed with the "el brilliante" light only they could see in the pit the day before. He witnesses the brother and sister fling themselves into it. Oh, no! He's so horrified by this he takes his time shambling back to the cabins, talking to Margo on his cell phone, trying to explain, weirdly, what happened. But fear not! As he reaches the perimeter of the camp site, the kids are there, running around and safe!
The remainder of this film brings us the kids becoming stranger and stranger, initially only to Ben as the other 3 adults don't see the change in the kiddos. But it's disclosed that Ben has mental health issues and is on Lithium. It doesn't touch on what those issues are. However, since the weird behavior seems evident only to the crazy guy, he wants to convince the rest of the group he isn't, in fact, crazy about THIS. That's when he finally reveals that while Ellie and Thomas were having morning nookie, he watched the kids swandive into the darkness, but they didn't initially tell the parents their kids were even missing because they didn't want to worry them. Cue all the in-fighting, verbal smears, and accusations!
You'd think all this animosity would lead to at least cutting the weekend short and having the parents take their precious youths home, away from the nutcase that declared he witnessed their demise. But, nope, they hung around long enough for the siblings to do one more assault on poor Ben, who winds up killing little Spencer! Mortified, Thomas makes a call to the authorities, only to be told someone will show up IN A FEW HOURS.
Instead of taking matters into their own hands, piling everyone up into one vehicle, and transporting the dead child and his killer to law enforcement themselves, they elect to hang around the scene of the crime. Ellie sits by the body of her son, weeping, until the child suddenly comes back to life. Margo finally realizes Ben was right all along, after she enters the cabin to discover her friend brutally attacked, and witnesses her die. The perp is revealed to be her own child, who's shadow is shown to be insect-like, though we never actually get to see the creature itself, as the child transforms back to normal, conveniently.
Eventually, a park ranger (not even a cop) shows up, confused about who the victim is. After entering the premises, she finds the body of the mangled mom. But before she can call for backup, or do anything really, she's become the next victim. The rest happens quickly, giving the end a very rushed feeling, just to basically wrap up the whole thing. The kids subdue Margo, take her and the dead adults back to the pit, and somewhere in all this haphazard mess, it's discovered that whatever these mysterious insect creatures are, they intend to make more of themselves. Margo wakes up in the old building, and after seeing the convenient victim of the ranger being tossed into the pit, she manages to get the jump on the bug-kids and pushes THEM into it! Yay!
After having fought off her own possessed mate, and now the killer kiddos, she tries to make her escape. But wait, there's more! Before she can get away, Ben/bug shows back up before she can hightail it out of there. Hold on, Thomas finally shows up from, wait, where HAS he been since his son was killed? Anyway, he fights off Ben so Margo can make her escape. Freedom! She drives away, but for some reason feels the need to pull off onto the side of the road to let loose a primal scream! Once done, she looks up, and, dammit! There are Lucy, Spencer and Ben! The threesome hold hands, because playing Red Rover will surely keep her from getting very far. As for Margo, she guns the engine and heads straight for them. Because obviously throwing them into a bottomless pit wasn't enough to take them out, but knocking them over like bowling pins will do the trick. Is she finally victorious? Well, we don't know, because just as the SUV is about to make impact, the film stops.
By the way, it's never explained what the creatures are, where they originally came from, what their intentions were (other than to reproduce), how long they've been here, etc. The filmmakers spent more time on the orgy conversation then on the protagonists themselves. Plus, the creatures are supposedly insects, but Spencer beats some insects into mush with a rock AFTER he turns into one of them? I don't understand that. In fact, there's a lot about this movie I didn't understand. Normally I'd rewatch something to look deeper into it if I'm left perplexed, but I can't make myself sit through this again.
So, if you made it this far and still decide to watch it, don't say I didn't warn you. Although I'd recommend viewing it with some of your own alcoholic beverages...