Shut In (2016)

A heart-pounding thriller about a widowed child psychologist who lives an isolated existence in rural New England. Caught in a deadly winter storm, she must find a way to rescue a young boy before he disappears forever.

Director:

Farren Blackburn

Writer:

Christina Hodson

Stars:

Naomi Watts, Charlie Heaton, Jacob Tremblay

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Naomi Watts	...	Mary
Oliver Platt	...	Dr. Wilson
Charlie Heaton	...	Stephen
Jacob Tremblay	...	Tom
Clémentine Poidatz	...	Lucy
Alex Braunstein	...	Aaron
David Cubitt	...	Doug
Crystal Balint	...	Grace
Ellen David	...	Joan
Tim Post	...	Sheriff
Peter Outerbridge	...	Richard
Anton Chevrier	...	Stephen 5 years old
Thomas Macedo	...	Stephen 9 years old

Storyline

A heart-pounding thriller about a widowed child psychologist who lives an isolated existence in rural New England. Caught in a deadly winter storm, she must find a way to rescue a young boy before he disappears forever.

---

Plot Keywords:

nightmare | boy | psychologist | mother son relationship | car alarm | 

---

Taglines:

Some fears can't be shut out

---

Genres:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for terror and some violence/bloody images, nudity, thematic elements and brief strong language

Details

Country:

France Canada USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 November 2016 (USA)

Also Known As:

Presencia siniestra

Filming Locations:

Sutton, Québec, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,700,000, 11 November 2016, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$6,883,951, 23 December 2016

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$6,891,009, 29 December 2016

Company Credits

Production Co:

EuropaCorp,Transfilm,Lava Bear Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The screenplay for this film was featured in the 2013 Blacklist, a list of the "most liked" unmade scripts of the year.

---

Goofs

A child is declared missing after somehow finding his way to his former psychologist's home during freezing, winter weather. Not only aren't police overly concerned about the matter, when local news reports are shown, this is somehow not the major story.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Doug: Hey. It's going to be okay.
Richard: Just tell me we're doing the right thing.
Doug: No, sweetheart, I know you want to fix this. It's what you do. But we've tried. All right? We've been trying and look where it's gotten us.
[looking over at their son waiting in the car]
Doug: And I think the space is gonna be good for him. For all of us. Besides, it's a good school. He'll be home by the end of the summer.

---

Connections

Referenced in Half in the Bag: 2016 Movie Catch-up (2016)

---

Soundtracks

Hush Little Baby
Traditional
Public Domain

User Reviews

There's no reason to watch this one.

The beginning of this film has Watts' character suffering the sudden loss (in a car crash) of her husband, which seemingly sent his 15 years old son (her stepson) into catatonia. She then cares for him (despite the fact it was clearly established that he was aggressively violent toward her, and his father, and the three of them never got along with each other).

Then, a small boy Watts is counselling disappears from her house, in the freezing cold winter in Maine. She then seems to be going mad, both searching for the boy, and blaming herself for her stepson's accident, which it turns out, was all an act by him to get attention from her, despite the fact that again, they didn't get along to begin with, so why does he suddenly care if she pays attention to him?

Far too complicated of a setup, especially for a film which cannot decide where it wants to go, this then degenerates into a really lame combination of this year's The Boy (which was quite derivative of several other films), Halloween (during the hiding-in-the-closet climax), and The Shining, with Oliver Platt's character obviously standing in for Scatman Crothers' Dick Hallorann.

Seriously, anyone who cannot figure what his fate will be is a moron.

There is so little to say about this one because there is so little substance to anything here. None of its under developed plot threads make any sense, or go anywhere. Seeing Naomi Watts just kept reminding me of my second favourite movie, Mulholland Drive, and seeing Oliver Platt just kept reminding me of Lake Placid, and made me want to watch both of those gain. They're both vastly superior movies than this.