Director: Joe Johnston
Writers: Adam Mason, Simon Boyes
Stars: Michael Gladis, Dan Bakkedahl, Max Minghella
Plot: An office worker is trapped inside the building where a killer is on the loose.
Running Time:76 minutes
IMDB Score: 5.8
Why I watched it: It’s a Netflix pick, in my wheelhouse, thriller kind of sounds like a low rent Die Hard.
Random Thoughts: This is a strange film, released by Blumhouse and directed by Joe Johnston, he did the first Captain America, Wolfman, October Sky, he’s been around but this is a cheap quickie, so a little strange and add to the fact it pretty much went right to VOD.
What I liked: The set up is fine, a hitman comes into what he thinks is going to be an empty office and is not alone, he’s there to kill and destroy but a worker who is just fired comes back and is the fly in the ointment so a game of cat and mouse starts. That’s fine we’ve seen it before but it can still work. Some of it is clever they do a few different things with the premise, the worker isn’t a cop just an everyday Joe who’s trying to survive using his wits and his knowledge of the office.
Max Minghella is fine as the lead, he’s likeable and smart, so nothing wrong with him I also liked Eloise Mumford as his co-worker love interest to bad she’s not in the film that much but they’re good together and she’s an likeable screen presence.
The film is super short at under 75 minutes so can’t complain about it being too long.
What I didn’t Like: This is a bland film and I’m shocked with Joe Johnston directing, just so you know you wouldn’t know it. I’m going out on a limb and think they were either time and budget issue or lots of notes cause it looks like this film was cut down and also made like a PG-13, this at times felt like a TV movie or a bad cable movie. This is bare bones storytelling, they try a twist that a blind man could see coming and the main flaw is the hitman bad guy is boring, he’s not interesting, or menacing and more plot holes to shake a stick at, the whole plot of why this guy is there is really silly and by the end makes little sense.
This feels like a small budget film that just got thrown together, maybe at some point they thought this was going to be a bloody thriller, or an intense action film but the cut we got is so bland and slight it’s kind of bad.
Final Thoughts: Not terrible but the type of film that in two weeks you will forget you saw it.
Rating: 4/10
Movie Burner Entertainment 