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 The Guest Movie Review

The Guest is a 2014 thriller film directed by Adam Wingard and starring Dan Stevens. It has a problematic third act, but most of the movie is excellent and quite entertaining.

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“You did the right thing.

I don’t blame you“

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It tells the story of a US soldier called David who unexpectedly visits the Peterson family, introducing himself as a friend of their son who died in combat in Afghanistan. After he has been staying in their home for a couple of days, a series of deaths occur, and the daughter Anna suspects David is connected to them. The plot is your standard mysterious stranger thriller storyline, but it works because it is so well executed on multiple fronts.

One of the highlights of the movie is Dan Stevens. He steals the show and is suitably menacing as the creepy David. Stevens has probably never been better than he was in this film. Yes, the role is one-note, but that one note was played to a perfection by him, and it was a blast seeing his dangerous face throughout. He’s basically a superhero villain in a thriller movie.

The family that takes him in was also well developed. The father and the mother were a bit too naïve for my personal taste, which rendered their fate quite frustrating, but the kids are great, and the girl realizing everything on time was a great development as it was refreshing seeing a teenager being smarter than the rest of the family.

The Guest is at its best in the first act. The idea that a guy who has become a true family friend and has helped them many times would be dangerous to them and the rest of the world was very well realized. The emotional investment was quite high, unexpectedly so. But the twist remains an issue as it felt overly superheroic (though it explains the superhero strength of his) and it simply seemed too silly to me personally. The movie is very well scored, shot and suspenseful throughout with the dialogue also being terrific, but I wish that the third act was smarter and more serious. The horror overtones clashed too much with the thriller outline.

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The Guest is such a fun thriller that is definitely overly silly and even ridiculous in its third act twist and the horror elements did not quite work, but the suspense is there throughout, the movie is surprisingly investing emotionally, and Dan Stevens is terrific and suitably menacing in the main role. The third act remains a problem, but everything before that was excellent, and the movie is simply too entertaining not to forgive it for that twist.

My Rating – 4