You're next - Review

You're next
Dendy Newtown
Review
Ben Oxley

(photo courtesy collider.com)

The usher directed me to Cinema 10, and when I came to theatre, there were no staff. I went in, the door creaked shut behind me. I thought, "where is everyone? - am I next?"

So began the thriller “You're Next”. One of the cast members defines it as 'home invasion horror thriller'. All your worst nightmares visited in a single strip of celluloid. This was pacy, cleverly underscored action from the get-go. The director, Adam Wingard, who also edited the film, gave us some insight into the making of the film: "Growing up in isolated parts of the South, I've always had an intense phobia of home invasions. There's a lot of distrust and paranoia living far away from any type of law enforcement, everyone owns guns and isn't afraid to fire first and ask questions later."

So we have a country home, a family reunion, where we start to see the dysfunctional relationships unravel. Into this one of the guests, playing a film-maker, interestingly enough, is intrigued by some movement outside the house. Let me introduce the cast: Crispian Davison (A.J. Bowen) has brought his girlfriend Erin (Aussie Sharni Vinson) to meet his family at their secluded country house for his parents’ 35th wedding anniversary. Along with Crispian’s father Paul (Rob Moran) and mother Aubrey (Barbara Crampton), the guest list includes his brothers Drake (Joe Swanberg) and Felix (Nicholas Tucci), his sister Aimee (Amy Seimetz) and their significant others Kelly (Margaret Laney), Zee (Wendy Glenn), and Tariq (Ti West).

“You’re Next” goes back to Toronto International Film Festival, when Wingard and writer Simon Barrett were screening their last flick “A Horrible Way to Die”. When they attended a Midnight Madness screening of “Insidious” and heard how the fans reacted to the scary stuff, they decided to go to work on a slasher thriller. Fast forward to this year’s Midnight Madness and “You’re Next” had the Midnight Madness crowd screaming, laughing and jumping out of their skin!

There are moments we are aware that a freaky climax is being set up, but the tension is cleverly driven forward by taut editing and graphic shots and angles. It asks awkward ‘what if’ questions, particularly of those who grow up in ease, not challenged by adventure and risk. And it will be very popular here in Australia, as the heroine is one of our own.