The more I think about this film, the more impressed I am with it. And the more fun I have thinking about it. There are few films made today whose sole purpose it to give people a twisted, amped-up sense of joy, but THE GUEST is one of those movies. I know you think those multi-million-budgeted films are trying to entertain you—and they are to a degree—but they also are answering to a committee of people who want to appeal to a certain large demographic (or as many demographics as humanly possible). But the latest work from director Adam Wingard and writer Simon Barrett (whose last feature, the long-delayed YOU’RE NEXT) is another wonderful, inventive genre mash-up that wears its ’80s genre references quite blatantly and joyfully on its sleeve with winking at the audience and pointing at them in a “Look see!” manner.
The filmmaker’s first perfect decision was to cast former “Downton Abbey” star Dan Stevens (also seen in this week’s release A WALK AMONG THE TOMBSTONES) as returning military vet “David.” The reason the casting is so perfect is threefold: first, those who don’t watch “Downton Abbey” won’t have any baggage associated with Stevens; he’s the perfect blank slate; two, those who do know his TV work will be stunned at the type of character he plays here; and three, Stevens is a flat-out fucking great actor, who goes from charming to menacing at snake-strike speed.
David shows up on the doorstep of the Peterson family, whose son Caleb died in the war and whom David served along side; there’s even a photo of the two men on a shelf in the family’s home. Mother Laura (Sheila Kelley) invites David for dinner and to stay overnight (initially) after his long journey. Stevens has turned himself into a lean, mean, tanned strip of man to play David, and he uses a sideways smile and a slight southern accent to charm the women of the household, which also includes of-age daughter Anna (Maika Monroe), clearly the smartest one in the house (which also include Leland Orser as the dad and Brendan Meyer as younger brother Luke), since she’s the only one who suspect something isn’t quite kosher with David.
As THE GUEST goes on, the family start to form bonds with David and tell them their collective and individual troubles, and over the course of his stay, these problems—ranging from school bullies to promotion issues at dad’s workplace—seem to take care of themselves, often in the form of suspicious deaths or not-so-suspicious beatdowns. David apparently promised Caleb that he would look after the Peterson family, and as a man in need of a mission after his time in the war is cut short due to an injury (so he says), he has seemingly taken it upon himself to deal with any hinderances in the Petersons' lives. That’s the first half of the movie, roughly. Then, as they did in YOU’RE NEXT, Wingard and Barrett open an unseen door into an entirely different storyline that changes your perception of everything that you’ve just seen, and it makes the entire film much more fulfilling and thrilling.
But he smartest trick in the Wingard-Barrettt playbook is to establish a fairly realistic, grounded set of characters and situations before amping up the more outlandish elements of their beautifully crafted story. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention composer Steve Moore’s dangerously synthy score, which sounds like a long-lost John Carpenter-written arrangement, but serves as the perfect companion to a soundtrack that includes Love and Rockets "Haunted When The Minutes Drag” as its recurring theme sone, as well as Sisters of Mercy and several songs by Clan Of Xymox.
Likely seeking to avoid being labeled as strictly horror filmmakers (they also has a major hand in the first two V/H/S films), Wingard and Barrett have shifted effortlessly into thriller mode and been handed a gift in Dan Stevens, who is so critical to the success of THE GUEST. This is one of those films that I don’t just want to recommend to you all, but I want to come to your house and drag you to the earliest possible screening. It really is that much of a fun, sneaky, trippy and often quite tense ride.
