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Better Watch Out

Hamnah Asif
Oct 21, 2017
3 min read

Rating: 6/10

Directed by Chris Peckover

Starring

Olivia DeJonge as Ashley

Levi Miller as Luke

Ed Oxenbould as Garrett

Better Watch Out was released on 6th October this year and is a film that relies on me not telling you its basic premise. If I were to do it, half the novelty it relies on shall vanish and, past that, there’s not much it has to offer. The main selling point of this movie is its unpredictability, even though the big plot twist is semi, if not completely, predictable. Let’s just say if Joffery Baratheon had directed Home Alone, this movie would be the result.

Leaving the city to head to college, Ashley decides to babysit thirteen year old Luke one last time before she leaves. She’s known him since he was eight and she also knows his nerdy friend, Garett. But Garrett and Luke are about as creepy and gross as you would expect two thirteen year olds to be and Luke decides to put the moves on Ashley.

That’s when the trouble begins as intruders break into the house and begin terrorizing the two. I’m reluctant to tell you the rest because that’s probably the one thing Better Watch Out has going for it. It’s incredibly self-aware and understands just how ludicrous it seems. It takes so much pleasure in dwelling in the oddity of the situation it has created except the situation is never as ironic as the movie thinks it is (or wants to be.)

There’s so little plot and such little character development, except for Luke who we do see occasional glimpses of a fleshed out person in. But those are few and far between because Better Watch Out spends way too much time terrorizing its characters. To scenes of home invasion playing alongside Christmas carols and cheery music, it dwells so often in just how funny and off-beat it is, it forgets to actually be as funny and off-beat. Irony is fun as long as it doesn’t beat you over the head.

All the potential character development for Garrett and Ashley is completely ignored. Levi Miller delivers excellently as Luke though, completely engrossed in his role. Patrick Warburton and Virginia Madsen are barely in this movie yet are billed as some of the top cast.

There’s some great direction though; particularly in one scene that I’ll refer to as “The Hanging Tree” scene and there is some great payoff near the end. It’s also visually interesting, despite the fact that most of it takes place in one little suburban house.

But there’s just not enough meat in this film to keep it going. Despite a short run time (1.5 hours barely) it feels a bit longer than it actually is. The dialogue is silly and while it’s never boring, the themes it wants to convey so ironically like toxic masculinity, female empowerment and suburban living are muddled and feel like guises for a paper thin story. I can see and appreciate the effort and can understand what they were aiming for. But it’s just not that much of an enjoyable movie.

Another similar (and severely underrated) flick is The Loved Ones, a thriller revolving around a demented girl, Lola, who kidnaps the boy she’s in love with, holds him hostage and in an (actually ironic) move, stages a horrifically colorful prom night with him alongside her psychotic father.