You're Next

Movie Name: You're Next
Year of Release: 2011
Director: Adam Wingard
Starring: Sharni Vinson, Joe Swanberg, AJ Bowen, Nicholas Tucci, Wendy Glenn, Margaret Laney, Amy Seimetz, Ti West, Rob Moran, Barbara Crampton, L. C. Holt, Simon Barrett, Lane Hughes, Larry Fessenden, Kate Lyn Sheil
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 6
Watch it on Amazon

Synopsis and Review

While Adam Wingard is now a well established director, courtesy of the successful films he has directed in the last few years which includes "Godzilla vs. Kong" and "Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire", and even the smaller scale "The Guest", "You're Next" is the film that was his breakthrough and opened the door to his subsequent features. "You're Next" follows the events surrounding a family who gets together for a dinner celebration at their vacation home in rural Missouri. The Davison family is comprised of the parents, and 4 adult offspring, all of whom appear with their significant others. One of the offspring is Crispian, who has always been the target of the taunting of his older brother Drake. Crispian shows up with Erin, who used to be his teaching assistant, but who is now his partner/girlfriend. During the dinner and as tensions start rising up between Crispian and Drake, the family is attacked by an assailant in a tiger mask. That person shoots a crossbow, and kills Tariq, Aimee's boyfriend. Everyone is shocked and distressed, and immediately try to reach out to the police. However they all realize their cell phones have no reception, and that something may be jamming it. The family decides that one of them can quickly run outside past the intruders, and either get to one of the cars or to the road and ask for help. Aimee who's a runner, volunteers to do so, but as she sprints out of the house, she gets detained by a garrote wire, that kills her. The panic ensues, and as the family and their loved ones react differently to what is happening, these attackers brutally murder them one by one, that is until Erin starts fighting back.

"You're Next" very much sets itself up as a narratively economic B-movie. The characters are all briefly and succinctly introduced, with the archetypes ranging from the bullies, to the no-nonsense attackers, the rebels, the pretentious intellectuals, and the list goes on, with the sole purpose of getting the relationships between everyone progressively clearer, particularly when the brutal killings commence. The film smartly doesn't focus itself around uncovering the why of it all happening, opting instead to focus on the fight for survival that everyone is going through. The reason for the brutal attack is uncovered as the relationships between everyone become clearer. While some of the situations have a McGiver vibe to them, particularly some of the defensive tactics Erin chooses to adopt, Mr. Wingar smartly keeps all these interactions on a brutal and economical state. There's no empathy buildup, no reasoning, no negotiating: everyone is trying to survive, and as the motives for the blood fest become clearer, there's also no excuse, and no escape. The cast is solid, with Sharni Vinson making the most of her central role, with Joe Swanberg providing good support as the spoiled bully. The production team is solid, particularly Andrew Doz Palermo's cinematography and Tom Hammock's production design. It's a violent, but well crafted film.