The Guest

The Guest (2014)

93% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 70 reviews)

Runtime: 99 minutes

Directed by: Adam Wingard

Starring: Dan Stevens, Maika Monroe, Brendan Meyer, Sheila Kelley, Leland Orser

From: The greatly named Snoot Entertainment

I've mentioned many times already how this year has been a disappointment so far with too many movies I've seen. I heard a lot about this and I was hoping this wouldn't be another one of those.

It is not. In fact, it's one of my best movie of the year if not the best. I'll explain why in the Letterboxd review below and I'll return tomorrow night.

I can thank several messageboard threads for informing me of this motion picture. I am sure I'd hear about it eventually given that I rated pretty highly the writer/director's previous collaboration, You're Next, and of course I'd hear about it from some people I follow here having seen it already. But, I heard very strong hype from it between here and those boards. I anxiously awaited the opportunity to see it on the big screen and the release schedule changed a few times; it came to Miami recently but that's too far from me, who lives near Orlando. Finally, I saw that it came near my neck of the woods... only I was under the weather so it wasn't until last night that I finally was able to see it; was it worth the long wait?

YES

I won't say too much about the plot as the mystery aspect is the biggest aspect of the movie, but it's about a young soldier who shows up at the doorsteps of a New Mexico family and says he's discharged from the Army and he was close pals with their late son. He's a charming good-looking friendly guy so most of the family trusts him... but not everything is as it seems.

Of course, with me giving it the highest possible rating I think that this is a better film than the last movie from the collaboration between the director and writer (You're Next) and in fact if this isn't at the top of the Top 10 list I'll be doing sometime early next year it'll be near the top. The writing and direction are big reasons why. I'll just say that if you explained the general plot to someone who doesn't want to see the movie but still wants to know what it's about, it's not that complex at all. It's how it's presented that makes it such a fun thrill ride. It takes its time unraveling the story and that is a big plus.

Dan Stevens is simply incredible in the lead role. He plays a guy you can tell almost right away is not fully right and something is “off” with him and yet he's just so charming and damn likable you can see why many fell under that character's spell. The rest of the cast also delivers, especially Maika Monroe as the 20 year old who ends up becoming the lead girl.

Another important thing to mention: the musical score. Much of it is 80's synth done in modern times; think the Drive score or the soundtrack to the all-time great game known as Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon. With my eclectic tastes I thought it was simply incredible and it worked with the visuals oh so well.

While more than one moment made me go “hey wait a minute now...”, I will excuse that as several genres are blended together in a tasty fashion, the story's always interesting, there are some quality setpieces and when the fit hits the shan (some people do get wrecked) you have greatness. The movie's not in wide release (at least in the United States) but if it's by you it's a must-see. The way things are going I'll guess it won't ever get a wider release and that's a crying shame as it deserves more mainstream attention than it'll get.