There’s something so satisfying about a film utilizing an actor perfectly. Don’t Move is a tight, light-on-its-feet thriller that knows its stars tip to tail and weaponizes their strengths with an impressive efficiency. Adding in the gimmick, with our protagonist slowly losing control of their motor functions while running from a serial killer? Makes for a compelling story, a wild ride, and a fun watch.
It is about trauma, like most things these days. Horror has been relying more and more in inner pain and processing it than it has external pain, which is why certain films like In a Violent Nature feel so insanely fresh. Brian Netto and Adam Schindler’s Don’t Move takes its trauma and wraps it in a premise that’s strong enough to sustain it, despite the over-familiar emotional undertones. The directors are playing with good material, written by V/H/S/Viral alums T.J. Cimfel and David White (I’m not defending that segment, just saying), and bringing it to life without losing the fun of the idea is impressive.
Not that it’s fun for Iris (Yellowstone‘s Kelsey Asbille). Iris has been reeling over the death of her child for some time and lost the will to live. Hiking to a remote location in the woods, she’s talked off of a cliff’s edge by Richard (American Horror Story‘s Finn Wittrock), a quiet and emotionally intelligent man that understands her trauma. They walk back to their cars and, unfortunately for Iris, it’s revealed that he’s a serial killer. Tasing her, binding her, and injecting her with a sedative, he heads to have what he refers to as a “nice weekend together.” She escapes but has a limited amount of time to escape him before the sedative kicks in.
That is a banger of a premise for a breezy ninety-minute thriller. In the hands of the wrong performer it could go sideways, but Kelsey Asbille gives the physical performance of her career embodying the paralytic agent as it begins to course through her system. Utilizing little finger techniques, flashbacks, and eye movements, she makes a full meal out of a largely sedentary performance. There’s a level of trust that has to exist between onscreen talent when one must remain so motionless and it’s a fun time watching her handle that with such precision.
Luckily she’s paired with Finn Wittrock, whose horror credits grow every year. American Horror Story often knows to use him as a pretty boy with evil simmering under the surface and he’s truly terrifying in La La Land, there playing a monster that thinks his home setup is better than seeing a movie in a theater. Don’t Move is kind of the perfect project for him, letting his sweetness and charm slowly erode as his darkness comes out. Richard is a family man, away to indulge his darker impulses, but as Iris proves more and more of a challenge his facade erodes and his rage needs skimmed off the top. It’s a rousing performance that is all of threatening and hilarious, often at the same time.
This episodic, fun little Netflix film is elevated by a score written by Robert Eggers go-to-guy, Mark Korven. He’s joined by Michelle Osis, a composer new to me but if this is any indication I’m excited to seek out more of her work. The pair matches the onscreen energy and deftly offer excellent counterpoints to the long periods of wilderness silence embedded in the film’s sound design.
Don’t Move is a good time, even if you have to leave logic to the side a bit. There are a few moments that feel silly but this is a silly little serial killer thriller. You don’t need to shut your brain off, just try not to nitpick it to death. In an age where CinemaSins has ruined the viewing experience for so many that are now trained to pick movies apart, Don’t Move can be a blast if you meet it on its level.
Don’t Move is currently streaming on Netflix.
WRITE DRUNK; EDIT DRUNK 