They Reach (2020) User Reviews

Fun family friendly sci-fi/horror

[fiveninegal74 · 5/10 · 15 November 2020]

Full disclosure: I am from the PNW and my friends and colleagues are part of the cast & crew. I am extremely proud of the work they put into this film. We are not a large market up here. We do not have large (or often any) budgets to work with. So to see a finished product this polished gives me hope for future endeavors.

I can see that great care was taken in terms of set design, cinematography, and definitely score. My kingdom for a soundtrack!

The story is entertaining and certainly kept me engaged. I agree with other reviews that mentioned a Stranger Things vibe. Overall I think the acting was good. There were some things that worked better than others for me, but I think the 3 kids have a bright future in acting if they choose to continue.

Special kudos for the poster on the bedroom wall of "The Brain That Wouldn't Die"! ⭐😁👍🏻

You Trolls talked me into watching this!

[DettaJane · 3/10 · 29 July 2020]

I'm convinced every review here saying this movie was decent, is a troll.. Was this some school project, is that why they used stop motion for some effects? Did the children actors write and direct this? At least it was somewhat funny..

Eden Campbell makes it worthwhile

[livitsanis · 5/10 · 4 June 2020]

Awkward horror comedy looks good but is full of unsuccessful tone shifts. Balancing horror and comedy is possible but it didn't work here. In reviewing a bad film, I try to look for something positive to say. The highlight of They Reach is the delightful Eden Campbell as Cheddar, best friend of lead girl Jessica. Campbell easily steals the film. Her funny performance makes me want to see her star in a teen comedy as that type of character - a bold, boisterous, fast-talking, quick-witted, rambunctious girl eagerly embracing mischief and shenanigans. She reminds me a bit of Eden Sher, in being someone who isn't just giving a good comic performance, but who comes across as a funny person. Give her a film with a better script and more focus on her as a comedic lead, I think she'd be fantastic.

Dire !

[mathiassorrow · 1/10 · 3 June 2020]

Acting terrible. Story terrible. SFX terrible. Amusement factor Zero. Random quote 'You can't carry the light AND the potatoes' Yes, seriously, that's an actual line from this abortion of a movie. Honestly, if you're going to pick one movie to avoid watching, make it this one. It has one solitary redeeming feature, it ends. Sadly it takes around 90 minutes to do that.

Holy crap

[armadilla17 · 1/10 · 20 June 2020]

The first 15, 20 minutes I thought this movie is not that bad, what were all the negative reviews for, then I watched the rest of the movie and saw just what the bad reviews were for. The story of a marked one is pointless, the acting was not the absolute worst I have seen but it was by no means good or even adequate. ********MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD******

if you intend to watch this do not read further or if you want to watch it maybe this will help.

SPOILER-whole movie sucked but then in the last 5 minutes I thought it redeemed itself and I could have given it at 3 instead of 1 because it seemed that everybody dies and then she magically transports back to the past and everything is all good and everyone is still alive and completely wiped out the whole point of the whole movie so there you have it I should have listened once again I did not to the other reviews hope this helps.

It has potential but...

[victoriadimitrova-41428 · 4/10 · 20 June 2020]

I loved the idea and really wanted to like it but the acting was not good. Some really weird scenes made me wonder what were they thinking. It has good ideas and even some Stephen King vibes but I wouldn't recommend it.

Starts Off Badly And Gets Worse.

[nebk · 3/10 · 6 June 2020]

They Reach starts off badly and gets worse from there. The movie begins when a Dr. Quinnley and his son Alex are visiting a woman whose son is possessed by an entity. The movie skips 10 years and continues with a girl called Jessica getting a tape player from an antique store in 1979 after the death of her brother. The same tape player used to record an attempted exorcism ten years earlier. Jessica cuts herself while trying to fix it and bleeds all over it. Soon weird stuff happens, there are apparitions and people start seeing things which are not there.

The movie is badly written and the family reaction to the death of their son is not very well portrayed in the film. They seem to come back from the funeral and within minutes the mother is asking the girl about a science project. The characters are mostly one dimensional and wooden and most of of the acting is bad although the kid actors are ok more or less and seem to have the most fleshed out characters and show the most promise out of the whole cast. The dialogue gets worse and worse and the dialogue between the two main cops in the movie is cringeworthy. Not really worth watching as there are many other horrors out there that do the material better. A 3/10.

Slow and Boring

[danialjack · 3/10 · 30 August 2020]

Not scary.. not good.. boring movie.. better go for other options

A coming-of-age tale with some horror elements.

[Otkon · 6/10 · 3 June 2020]

There was some good production values. There is an actual film crew. There are crane shots. Drone shots. Steadicam, handheld, dolly and tracking shots. There is good lighting. This was not shot on cellphones. So kudos to a decent DP.

The set design is very good. Lots of dank spaces like basements and libraries. The effects, as sparse as they are, are not distractingly horrid. The costumes (other than the cop uniforms) are fairly accurate.

The acting is a mixed bag. Some players are better than others. And this isn't Shakespeare. But you can tell that they filled out the cast with crew, friends or amateurs.

The plot is a bit schlocky. At times it is lighthearted and whimsical. Then it ramps up the tension or gets zany. But the story is more about the kids fumbling around the town with a supernatural mystery to keep them busy.

Oh, and the soundtrack is pretty spectacular for a lower-budget film.

It's not great. But it gets points for effort.

"I wAs iN tHe MoViE!"

[horrorgasm · 10 August 2020]

Weird that there are multiple reviews claiming that the negative reviews can't possibly be true because the movie isn't out until October, which is maybe true for the US release, I'm not sure, but...it released on VOD services like Amazon internationally months ago. You were in the movie but you don't know that? Ok, bud.

Notice they're fine with all the blatantly fake 10/10 reviews from the same month though...

This is a Hi-Octane Pictures movie though, so honestly all of this and the low quality of the film itself is to be expected...

Not so good, but...

[finetunes · 3/10 · 6 June 2020]

If you decide to give this movie a go, you might get a peek at some new emerging talent. But it's like someone gave you a piece of fruit that's not ripe; it's got potential but it's time hasn't come yet. It feels like this movie was rushed thru production probably by budget constraints' it could have used a rewrite or two and while the pacing was good for most of the movie it seemed to rush in many places especially building up to and during special effects. The 3 kids as the main protagonists were diamonds in the rough and definitely have talent. "They Reach" borrows from Stranger Things and 8mm so least you can say is the writers have good taste.

Thriller Fun!!

[cloudsavage · 8/10 · 8 June 2020]

This indie film akin to The Goonies and Stranger Things balanced two themes of thriller and adventure to create a fun, entertaining film. The offscreen kills were reminiscent of older, more traditional horror films which I found nostalgic. The acting was mostly well done, but highlighted the trio.

Roe is an undiscovered talent, and Campbell's comedic timing kept me laughing, while Chandler was the sweet neighbor-next-door. The music was good, I loved the ending song, I only have one comment.

Some of the blood was a bit campy, and it took me out of the scene with the unrealistic gore. This only occurred a few times, but it was enough to keep the movie from being ten stars for me.

Overall, great film. Would watch again.

A unique horror/mystery with some heart thrown in for good measure.

[casgarble · 7/10 · 8 June 2020]

Temper your expectations and you can find this one quite enjoyable! The acting is good, the story is simple, solid, and fun, the look is great(camera work, color grade), and the music holds it all together quite well.

This definitely has a bit of a Stranger Things vibe but it certainly has it's own direction and feel, if not an entirely different sort of motivation. The story isn't entirely predictable, which is nice.

Overall, if you like the horror/mystery genre I think the odds are good you would enjoy this movie as well.

"It Follows"

[TomatoesareRotten · 1/10 · 9 July 2020]

But nowhere as good. It's AmDram on queludes. There's no conviction in the plot, there's no conviction in the ability of the cast ??

Decent setup, mediocre movie, awful ending

[korythacher · 4/10 · 1 September 2021]

Overall: Not really worth watching, but its not terrible.

They Reach had something pretty decent going on with the setup. It had a similar feel to Stranger Things, which is what I was hoping for. The overall vibe felt pretty nice throughout most of the movie.

By the middle it started to suffer from poor dialogue coupled with unclear information-exchanges between the characters regarding what they learned and needed to take action on. The ending was really bad, it felt like they basically gave up on the story and that cemented this down at 4 stars.

They tried too hard to force character development and interpersonal relationships, so none of it felt organic and it came across pretty clunky. The parts of the monster you see are neat, and they had a couple good scenes, but they didn't really put it together right. It's a shame because it felt like they were so close to getting it right, but it kept slipping further and further away.

waste of time

[ferdmalenfant · 1/10 · 3 June 2020]

Nothing but a bad attempt to entertain, a very poorly made movie with bad acting and no flow to any kind of story line.

Calling this good would be a reach....

[valkyrielinz · 3/10 · 15 November 2020]

All the positive reviews must be from backers. I get what they were going for but they missed the mark ...by....a lot. As other reviews have said, it had potential. These guys might be able to keep making movies and eventually do something worth a watch but this isn't it.

Are those actors ? Seriously ?

[azizmalhas · 3/10 · 19 January 2021]

Acting was a disaster! Story was good but was ruined by the cast and the very bad execution.

I don't understand how would a good story fall into amateur crew. No judgment here; but they could've at least have wrapped it in a shorter time and chose few good actors.

What is this?

[djhoschman · 1/10 · 3 June 2020]

Sorry, this Flick is not watchable. The Actors are very Bad, the Editing was Bad, and the Dialogue? Holy Cow was that Bad. Not an B Movie, more an C or D Movie.

Wasted 1 Hour of my Life that i never get back.

The Only solid Actress was Mady Roe.

If you need an Example, Watch the Scene there they put her Dad in the Police Car. Awful, so awful man was that bad.

Stay away from this, you will be disappointed

Fun indie scary flick

[chad-832-480510 · 7/10 · 8 June 2020]

I really enjoyed They Reach. There are definitely signs that this was an indie project. The acting wasn't always A-list level, etc. But it was still an enjoyable flick. There are genuinely captivating moments throughout. I also felt like the director did a great job of handling tension and scares. The VFX were above average for an indie/horror flick. And some of the performances were really compelling, especially the character of Cheddar. There are lots of touching moments as well that were well executed. I thought it was a very well balanced film.

Unwatchable

[ILoveYouOhDaeSu · 2/10 · 18 July 2020]

I stopped watching at the 37min mark because the writing and the pace didn't improve. It starts with a very short sequence that introduces a pair of likeable and rich characters that don't appear again within these first 37 minutes. And then it slowly introduces what I guess is the main character (a 13 yo girl), and later on her group of friends. Random creeking doors, sheets pulling, things they see...all are 2 second scenes in between their daily life and they don't contribute to a build up. And the comedic scenes and characters woud be great to ease tension from time to time, but there's no tension to start off. I didn't see the point in watching more. I liked some acting and the cinematography though, that's why my 2 stars.

Old time fun with Goonies vibe

[bilbo-63015 · 8/10 · 9 June 2020]

I guess they were going for Stranger Things if you see some of the cover shots. Or maybe that's a marketing flub up. I think some have not actually watched this movie and might be judging it on some of the really bad Stranger Things push on their advertising. But the movie is really fun. Gets very bloody. Acting stretches in parts. But I enjoyed it. Rating a bit higher make up for some of the low raters - makes me wonder if they really saw this movie. I recommend.

70's nostalgia horror stick done the right way.....

[s3276169 · 7/10 · 10 June 2020]

A lot of reviewers, some of whom, I supect have not seen this film, have, in my opinion, been very unfair to it. "They Reach" is by no means a bad little horror film.

There's a real "Stranger Things" meets "The Goonies" vibe on offer here, rounded out with a 70's nostalgia trip, that's done extremely well. This is balanced by surprisingly excellent acting from younger cast members in particular, who really steal the show.

The horror effects are nothing special but they don't really need to be. In spite of the blood and minor gore, this is on a certain level a dark horror comedy. Its not supposed to be taken too seriously.

In short this ones a winner. Its inherently likable, watchable and entertainingly silly in a scary demonic kind of way.

7/10 from me.

The tape recorder used for the poster...

[ernestputnoky · 5 June 2020]

The tape recorder in the poster is a Tesla B115 Sonet Duo. It was a reel-to-reel monophonic tape recorder, using vacuum tube amplifiers, developed by Tesla Pardubice (Czechoslovakia) in 1959, and manufactured by Tesla Prelouc in large numbers. It was compact, portable and reliable, and was used in the countries of the Eastern Europe. It is not featured in the movie, only in the movie's poster.

When the cover is the best thing about the movie...

[paul_haakonsen · 3/10 · 3 January 2021]

I must admit that I was lured in by this 2020 horror movie's cover/poster and also the synopsis. Sure, I hadn't heard about the movie, but its cover looked rather interesting, and the synopsis held a promise of a movie that potentially could be enjoyable to watch. The key word here was 'could be', because "They Reach" wasn't a particularly enjoyable movie.

The fault with "They Reach" is the storyline, as it just felt like writers Sylas Dall and Bry Troyer were just stumbling about in the dark, trying things as they went along. And it didn't make for a wholesome movie. The script and plot was just subpar, and there was little of any enjoyment throughout the course of the movie. I managed to endure the movie to the end, because I wanted to give the movie a chance in the hope of it improving as director Sylas Dall steered the movie about.

For a horror movie, then "They Reach" was just not delivering anything worthwhile. Nothing in the movie was scary, and whenever something with the potential to be good or scary was being brought to the screen, it just culminated in something unfulfilling.

And the characters in the movie were bland. In all honesty, I can't say that I cared much of anything for any of the characters in the movie. The script just didn't present fleshed out characters that I could relate to, nor form any form of bond to. So whether people lived or died, it was all the same. I will say, though, that the acting in the movie was adequate, but the actors and actresses virtually had nothing to work with.

If you enjoy a proper horror movie, do yourself a favor and skip on the 2020 movie "They Reach", because the movies cover/poster was actually the best thing about the entire movie, though it oversold the movie by a long shot. My rating of "They Reach" settles on a mere three out of ten stars.