There is something bleakly sinister about a serial killer thriller that begins with said killer “saving” a woman from suicide so that he can kill her himself. Such is the perverse opening sequence of Don’t Move, directors Brian Netto and Adam Schindler’s nasty little genre piece which is blowing up on Netflix just in time for Halloween.
Set in a gorgeous stretch of remote backwoods, Don’t Move is all about the cat and mouse moves between “Richard” (Finn Wittrock), the cat, and Iris (Kelsey Asbille), the mouse. In fact, Iris is a grieving mother who lost a child under tragic circumstances in this very wilderness some months back, and “Richard” is just one of many nom de plumes assumed by a serial killer who after talking Iris down from a literal ledge, injects her with a paralytic agent. The taught 80 or so minutes that follow is about a woman who quickly loses motor functions of her body. Can she stay away, or hidden, long enough to avoid becoming another one of Richard’s disappearances?
Much of the enjoyment in Don’t Move stems from the performances, as well as how the characters navigate an idyllic but unforgiving landscape. Near misses in white water rapids, tranquil lakes, and rustic gas stations make for a gnarly backdrop to some base genre thrills. And if you enjoyed those, you ought to love some of these…
Deliverance
Perhaps the ultimate “nature excursion gone awry,” Deliverance remains director John Boorman’s best movie and the 1970s staple that made Burt Reynolds one of the biggest, hyper-masculine movie stars of his generation. Albeit, Burt was just part of a larger ensemble in this one, the seeming alpha among a group of former school day chums that also includes Jon Voight, Ronny Cox, and poor Ned Beatty. Now in their 30s, and most with families and kids, the quartet have come to the backwoods of Appalachia to tame the mighty Cahulawassee River on a canoe trip.
