The Guest (2014)
Director: Adam Wingard
Starring: Dan Stevens, Malika Monroe, Lance Reddick and Brandon Meyer
Genre: Action/Thriller/Black Comedy
Plot: The Petersons (Malika Monroe, Brendan Meyer, Sheila Kelley, Leland Orser) are a working class family reeling from the loss of their oldest child/sibling Caleb, a solider killed in action while serving in Afghanistan. A couple of weeks after Caleb's death, the Peterson's receive a visit from David Collins (Stevens), a friend of Caleb's who was tasked with checking up on the family after he passed.. While initially embracing David's presence in their home, the family becomes skeptical of who David really is once he demonstrates violent behavior towards people that have harmed their family.
The Guest beckons back to a time where action thrillers with complex, absurd premises ruled the B-movie marketplace. The film has the look, feel and sick sense of humor of late 80's cult classics such as Big Trouble in Little China and They Live and like those films, only becomes entertaining as the narrative becomes more and more implausible. Further bolstering the film is the electric lead performance form Dan Stevens. Stevens, mostly known for his supporting role on the PBS period drama Downtown Abbey, breaks free of his proper British gentleman shtick to deliver an absolutely terrifying performance here. Stevens is essentially a one-man tension machine that fills this film with a looming sense of dread. His performance tows the line between charming and psychotic so tightly that you never know what Collins's true intentions or character is until the last half-hour or so and that makes The Guest the rare thriller to actually serve up massive thrills. This is exactly the type of standout performance the young Brit needed to get Hollywood to notice his immense gifts as an actor (It clearly worked because Stevens was just cast in the live-action remake of Beauty & the Beast.) The complete and utter insanity of the film's proceedings will turn some audiences off, but anyone open to B-movie absurdity should have a blast with this.
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