By Keri O’Shea
Casting an eye over the upcoming cover art for Intruders, I found myself thinking two things: firstly, oh god, that Cabin in the Woods artwork has a lot to answer for, and secondly, hmm – there are a lot of household tools being showcased here; please don’t let this home invasion movie turn out to be yet another showreel for B&Q. Happily, although the odd trusty hammer does show up along the way, Intruders does rather different things with its subject matter overall and as such, raises itself high above the worst offenders of this sub-genre. In fact it often steps outside the sub-genre altogether, though without departing from ‘home’ as a source of horror, and this, too, is very much to its credit.
From the very first instance, our female lead, Anna (Beth Riesgraf) is depicted as a vulnerable, contested character – and hardly surprisingly is this the case, as she’s been nursing her terminally ill brother Conrad, whilst also battling with the double-whammy of severe agoraphobia. Whatever’s plagued them both in their lives, it’s clearly serious, and it leaves Anna wide open to additional trauma when her beloved brother’s expected, but still hard-hitting death occurs. Hey, and I should add that all of this happens before the opening credits roll.
For all this – a tour through torment which could have come off feeling brusque and insincere – I felt a lot of immediate sympathy for Anna. Whether the subtle style of acting which Riesgraf brings to these events, or else the unflinching portrayal of disease and death we’re shown (platitudes about Conrad ‘going to a better place’ are either not forthcoming at all or are rendered implausible) the film makes itself instantly engaging. You also can’t help but feel from the get-go that this environment, the white-picket fence homestead which is nonetheless cluttered and littered with the detritus of defiantly not coping for ten years, is a powder keg, and one which may explode in ways other than the instantly obvious (because the film’s promo materials are pretty obvious about the fact that someone’s coming in…)
Sure enough, expecting Anna to be at her brother’s funeral (clue: she ain’t) here come some guys looking to find the hard cash they’ve heard is hidden in the ramshackle property somewhere. And the film’s plus points continue with these new players: rather than some amalgamous, super-human whole, the intruders are also characters, from your more standard issue, nogoodnik hick through to a pair of brothers who seem to think better of the whole thing a few moments after getting through the door. I mean, how would anyone feel when faced with a woman who’s desperate not to escape? Some sense of a lull ensues as the film takes us through a few back stories, sure, and there are some weaker moments in the plot as Anna plays multiple games of hide-and-seek in order to showcase her insider knowledge of the old place, but all of this winds up feeling necessary as it all gives way to what feels like a very different film altogether. There are also lots of interesting developments of the sets being used – some of which reminded me of The Seasoning House in aspects – and the possible context of all these surprising spaces isn’t any more seemly, either, although not the same by any stretch.
Intruders effectively changes tack throughout, ending up a long way from where it starts and yeah, in some ways which won’t be to everyone’s tastes, but what the film does very effectively is to keep the victim/villain dynamic shifting. It does this within the confines of the characters we have in front of us, and also by reaching out beyond the narrative itself, calling into question the behaviour of people who aren’t participating in the events on screen. That’s no small thing. Even if some aspects of the ending are a little frilly (though thinking of a way to wrap this up were always going to be tricky) then what you can definitely say here is that the film is an interesting look at those messy human impulses which people have, but rationalise differently – be this the desire for money, the desire for vengeance, guilt, lust, or even to make the world a better place; it all goes way beyond your traditional invasion movie, kept me gripped, and deserves credit as such. Kudos also to the stylish photography and editing throughout the film, and a foreboding musical score which fits the bill very well indeed.
Intruders is available via Studiocanal on 6th June 2016.