Four out of
Five stars
Running time:
95 mins
Adam Wingard's follow-up to A Horrible Way To Die is an entertaining home invasion horror with a blackly comic script, strong performances and a decent balance of gore, laughs, suspense and shocks.
What's it all about?
Directed by Adam Wingard, You're Next stars Sharni Vinson as Erin, a mature student who accompanies her lecturer boyfriend Crispian (AJ Bowen) to his secluded family home for his parents' (Rob Moran and Barbara Crampton as Paul and Aubrey Davison) 35th wedding anniversary. They are joined by Crispian's three bickering siblings Felix (Nicholas Tucci), Aimee (Amy Seimetz) and Drake (Joe Swanberg) and their respective partners Zee (Wendy Glenn), Tariq (Ti West) and Kelly (Sarah Myers).
However, the dinner is rudely interrupted when an arrow flies through the window, swiftly followed by a series of vicious attacks from a gang of black-clad assailants wearing animal masks. Soon, the Davison family and their partners are being picked off one by one, but the attackers haven't reckoned on the fact that Erin grew up on a survivalist compound and she uses all her skills to fight back.
The Good
Director Wingard is part of the current movement of what some critics have termed 'mumblegore', hence the inclusion of fellow directors Joe Swanberg and Ti West in the cast. That said, You're Next has a fairly mainstream horror feel to it, though it's distinguished by its script, which toys with some interesting ideas of class resentment and entitlement, while also echoing recent home invasion horrors such as The Strangers.
The script is shot through with jet-black humour, despite being played nominally straight – one particular moment involves the family all encouraging the fastest runner in the group (a high school track star, no less) to go for help, only for them to run head-first into a vicious booby-trap. Similarly, the gore effects are nicely handled and Wingard maintains an effective balance of shocks, laughs and suspense throughout.
The Great
The performances in You're Next are excellent: Home & Away graduate Sharni Vinson makes an appealingly resourceful lead and there's strong support from Joe Swanberg, who has a nice line in sarcastic delivery, while Tucci and Glenn are good value as Felix and Zee. On top of that, the film builds to a satisfyingly grisly climax with a brilliantly executed final note.
Worth seeing?
You're Next is a smartly directed home invasion horror that delivers shocks, gore, suspense and blackly comic laughs thanks to an above-average script and strong performances. Recommended.