Directed By Brian Netto and Adam Schindler

Starring – Kelsey Asbille, Finn Wittrock, Moray Treadwell

The Plot – When an illogical killer (Wittrock) injects Iris (Asbille) with a paralytic agent, she must run, fight and hide before her body completely shuts down.

Rated R for some strong violence and adult language.

DON’T MOVE | Official Trailer | Netflix (youtube.com)

POSITIVES

Without question, this film’s single biggest strength, and ironically enough its biggest weakness, is an 88-minute run time that tautly constricts its outline towards trimming any semblance of excessive fat, while breezing through the kind of palpable urgency that very few films can capably pull off. This not only keeps the focus firmly on the dynamic between the two leads, in a cat and mouse pursuit that rarely relents, but also makes the minutes practically burn off seamlessly with maintained emphasis in pacing that surprisingly made this one of the easiest at-home watches of 2024. Considering this film will release on Netflix, with all of the distractions of a relaxingly comfy atmosphere, it manages to maintain your attention with the continuously re-evaluated stakes of this shifting dynamic for power, all the while crafting some effectively tense layers of dreaded suspense that maximize the potential adversity inside of a bodily conflict where our protagonist’s paralyzed state makes escapism and levity all the more difficult. Further adding to this element is an immersive captivity to the cinematography from Zach Kuperstein, who effortlessly illustrates this woman’s terrifying circumstances with signs in the visual textures that further overwhelm this helpless and hopeless predicament. Between Kuperstein’s frantically trembling visuals contorting clarity, and the eagerly eccentric consistency of camera motions, the production garners intensity to overwhelming vulnerability that we the audience can coherently interpret far beyond the cerebral actions of Asbille, capped off with a brilliant color dynamic between the coldly damp traumas of the past, and the breathtaking imagery of the scenic splendor of the current, only add to Asbille’s frail state of mind as she mourns her own everyday demons. Speaking of Asbille, the dynamic involving the intentionally awkward brand of chemistry between her and Wittrock goes a long way towards elevating dialogue that is otherwise easily forgettable, with each of them riding a form of duality that tests the waters of their suddenly spontaneous crossing of paths. As a griever, Asbille seamlessly wears the blankets of despair that cloud her judgment, leaving it all the more difficult to maintain the stoic front that she puts on during her initial engagements with the mysteriously charming Wittrock. For Finn, it’s more of the moral ambiguity that made him a household name on TV’s ‘American Horror Story’, with a subtly alluring charm and sincerity of cadence giving way to a maniacal mayhem that feels just as easy to fall for as it does fall by. When these two are together, the film definitely attains its highest momentum in execution, but isolated, Asbille does her most meaningful work, with bodily contortions and facial acting, particularly in the eyes, that speak volumes to the overwhelming internal struggle that make the minutes of her terrifying condition, to which the aforementioned camera work focuses on so frequently to remind us of the living, breathing person inside held captive by her condition. Keeping the cast minimal, with only two other credited actors to the movie’s ensemble, keeps the attention and focus where it rightfully should be, helping to maintain an isolated factor to the primary conflict and established setting that offers very few avenues of exploration for our protagonist to properly evade her captor, in turn supplanting Asbille and Wittrock with unlimited opportunities to show why the casting choices couldn’t of been better in the movie’s favor. Lastly, the film is rated R, but the aforementioned strong violence factors are reserved meticulously so that they reach their most impactfully devastating levels by not feeling the need to repeat them so frequently. Instead, there’s two major instances where the brutality makes its presence felt almost unexpectedly extreme, with one such example stemming from the resolution during the film’s closing moments that is too unique and believably effective by a tremendously detailed element of make-up and prosthetics to spoil, but if you’re part of the stomach-churning crowd who don’t like overly violent films, be relived by ‘Don’t Move’s’ decision to make their thrills more of the psychological variety than physical, choosing to only deviate when there’s no other way for their characters to attain the kind of advantage that can properly alter the course of the conflicts.

NEGATIVES

The other side of run time limitations undercuts some of the meaningful themes and heartfelt drama of the film’s opening act that are recalled back during the film’s climax, keeping it from ever finding the kind of impactful effectiveness that was intended, as a result of undercutting so many initial developments to the backstories of the characters. While I commend a film’s desire to imbed the value and appreciation of life during a film that continuously tries to end it, Asbille’s arc and evolution feels practically non-existent during those isolated times away from Wittrock, so the impact that it has during the film’s closing moments feel every bit shallow as they do unfulfilling, made worse by a complete lack of characterization during these moments that feel absent as a result of the lack of wiggle room that the film has in run time towards exploring them vividly. On top of the run time undercutting arcs, the script is plagued by an abundance of impracticalities and conveniences that make it difficult to remain faithfully invested to the growing magnitudes of what Asbille’s character faces, leaving plenty of eye-rolling moments where I found myself audibly groaning by not only the ways that certain characters of power act, but also how characters are able to evade an overwhelming predicament. This makes ‘Don’t Move’ the kind of movie where nobody feels relatable or truly in danger, as a result of the ridiculous outs that the movie gives them, and while I can momentarily forgive conveniences if they’re used in rarity, the frequent repetition of them here left every conflict feeling a bit unnatural and ultimately underwhelming from a complete lack of the logical, where the film could certainly be over in a matter of minutes, but reaches nearly an hour-and-a-half so that its characters can build towards a plan that never properly materializes in the first place. On top of it, the script’s decision to deviate away from the events playing out in real time instills a convenience of its own within the alleviation of Iris’ predicament, which directly halt communication to the audience for how they interpret and keep track of the circumstances. I’m not exactly asking for a continuous clock to count down her paralyzing state, just realism in the depths of how much her character does and how many places she travels throughout a supposed hour of expelled time, allowing us eye level accessibility, instead of the kind of submerged clarity that remains a step ahead of us at all times. Beyond creative measures, some of the production values leave slightly more to be desired in the execution of the presentation, primarily the stock studio compositions of the score and the abrasiveness of the editing, which have this feeling every bit of its straight-to-streaming appeal that it unfortunately grows complacent by. Because so many of the overhead themes sound repetitiously redundant, it starts to grow distracting to the compelling urgency of the conflict, and when combined with overzealous cuts and occasionally sloppy transitions, feels far more intrusive to the clarity of the depiction than I care to experience, trying forcefully to over exert energy and urgency when the physicality itself did more than a fitting job towards honoring the intention.

OVERALL
‘Don’t Move’ puts slightly more motion to its energy in execution than most Netflix-helmed productions, primarily in the suspenseful direction of Netto and Schindler, as well as the battle-tested performances of Asbille and Wittrock, who subscribe to such a cunningly compelling duality towards grief and how it mentally and sometimes physically immobilizes you. Unfortunately, the stagnancies of the script refuse to meet theses dynamic duos halfway, with a litany of conveniences, underdeveloped arcs, and uninspired choices that continuously halt its progress, leaving an entertainingly effective but grounded engagement that crawls so better successors can likely run with its creative concept.

My Grade: 6/10 or C-