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    Shut in

    Reviewed by
    adamwatchesmovies@

    WARNING: This review is hidden because it reveals the content of the film.
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    “Shut In” proves that it’s never too late to make room on the “worst of the year” list. This is an atrocious picture, a would-be horror film so creatively bankrupt I’m shocked it was released in theatres. The face that they’re still making movies this bad must be a sign that the end is nigh.

    Psychiatrist Mary Portman (Naomi Watts) is struggling to deal after a car accident killed her husband and left her step-son Steven (Charlie Heaton) paralyzed. His need for round-the-clock care means they live in near total isolation when she isn’t practicing. After Tom (Jacob Tremblay), a patient of hers, breaks into her home and then vanishes, everyone believes the young boy dead. Mary begins having horrific dreams and becomes convinced that his ghost is haunting her.

    This is a picture completely devoid of scares or tension. There are plenty of moments where it’ll startle you by having a racoon jump out of the dark, or a door will slam and it’ll be accompanied by a loud musical sting, but any thrills it might have generated dissolves like snowflakes in boiling oil. Two reasons for this. 1. The plot is as predictable as cat’s trip to the litter box and 2. Our protagonist is so thick it’s clear she’s never even heard of the concept of a horror story or movie. Even at 91 minutes, this film quickly runs out of ideas and begins spinning its wheel. A rational person put in the same situation as Mary could’ve escaped from her predicament in just a few minutes, and I’m not saying that because it’s as easy as leaving the house. Unfortunately for her, she lives in a land of plot holes where if things happen off-screen, we’re not supposed to question them.

    “Shut In” is an embarrassment. Apparently, this script by Christina Hodson was on the Hollywood Black List for years. It should’ve stayed there. I’m not sure if the blame lies in director Farren Blackburn, who should’ve known better regardless of his relative inexperience, but I have to assume that big name actress Naomi Watts saw SOMETHING in the initial script that drew her to appear in the film.

    ********* Spoiler Alert **********

    The only remorse I have about seeing “Shut In” is that I didn’t get to see the film on its opening day. This would’ve allowed me to hopefully prevent more people from seeing it by spreading the word. All of the spooky stuff that’s happening in this film? The weird noises in the walls, the marks appearing on Steven’s face, the disappearance of young Tom, there’s nothing supernatural about it. In the end, this film turns into a run-of-the-mill slasher film… and the slasher is Steven who was faking his paralysis for 6 months in order to be close to his stepmother!

    I’m no expert on the tests administered to people brought to hospitals, but I have the nagging suspicion that there’s no way you could fake what Steven did (despite what “Dumb & Dumber To” would lead us to believe) Not only would he have to willingly wet and soil himself to sell the act, but he would have to carefully ensure that he isn’t snoring while he sleeps and constantly monitor the noises in the house to ensure that when his mother enters the room, he hasn’t moved an inch. Then again, perhaps he did slip up once or twice and Mary simply didn’t notice. For a highly educated professional, she’s pretty thick. I know that in real life, if you were suddenly confronted with the fact that your stepson has been conscious while you’re sponge bathing him and changing his diapers, you might not be thinking straight. I’ll excuse the fact that the first time that she hits Steven over the head, she doesn’t finish the job. When there are 4 instances of our heroine knocking the hero down and walking away without hitting him even a second time, and she still hasn’t caught on, the woman’s an idiot that deserves whatever’s coming to her.

    ********* Spoilers End **********

    I sat in my theatre seat mouth agape watching “Shut In”. I couldn’t believe that the stupidest, most bone-headed reveal as to what exactly was going on, the one thing that I told myself “this movie is pure Grade F garbage if it does this” turned out to be the thing. I can’t imagine anyone seeing this 2016 picture and enjoying it. You could write a more inventive picture on a napkin while waiting for your large soda to be filled at the concession. “Shut In”? I’ve got a better title for ya, and you don’t even have to change the poster a whole lot. As a bonus, it’ll be a nice inside joke for Canadians, as this film was shot primarily in Quebec. How about instead of “Shut In”, we go with “Un Sh*t”! (Theatrical version on the big screen, November 22, 2016)

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    adamwatchesmovies@  25.11.2016 age: 26-35 2,867 reviews

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