It hasn't been long since we were last referencing the man or bear conversation, but hey, if it gets your movie made, why not run it back? Said predicament is very much in the heart of the new thriller called Don't Move, which is staged by directors Adam Schindler and Brian Netto. Our hiking buddy is Iris (Kelsey Asbille), a young woman who we soon find out has recently lost her son Mateo (Denis Kostadinov) in a tragic hiking accident. Overcome with grief, Iris wakes up early one morning and heads over to the site of the accident, seemingly determined to end her own life. Before anything irreversible happens, a man named Richard (Finn Wittrock) shows up and chats with Iris. She changes her mind and follows him back to the trail's parking lot. But things take a turn as he knocks her out and injects her with a paralysing drug, and so when she gains consciousness, she has about 20 minutes to fight back until her body shuts down.
Now, you might of course think that you have just received too much info about the movie, but luckily there's more than 20 minutes of action and adventure left since the director duo and screenwriters David White and TJ Cimfel are efficient with their storytelling. The setup not only sinks its teeth into the tense situation immediately when you see this dainty woman alone in the wilderness with a guy—who isn't exactly dressed for a hike, which in itself is a red flag—but it also introduces the ironic conflict within Iris. Iris, you see, must find every single piece of her will to live after being ready to die. She must fight tooth and nail even though her body is literally giving up. She must get ahead so the tragedy won't catch up to her. She might even have to kill this threat in order to see the next sunrise. Sure, it's rather obvious but it does get you rooting for Iris, which is important.
Unfortunately, after we get to the chase in the woods, Don't Move begins to lose much of its own reason for existing. It makes you feel slightly insane just how much the script seems to have been sterilised, watered down and squeezed to death, almost as if it also got the paralysing drug treatment. You get it all: cringeworthy flashbacks, awkward bits of exposition, implausible action and generic obstacles for Richard, which are most likely mandated by the page number instead of general momentum. This also drags down the two lead performers as a result. It wouldn't really be fair to single out Asbille considering Iris has to be mostly passive and lifeless for plot reasons, so it's good to mention that Wittrock also plays his part way too broad while Asbille doesn't possess a lot of presence when Iris is allowed to be in charge. Neither actor just can't deliver anything overly compelling because the material is so unremarkable.
A missed opportunity is the best description for Don't Move as it is after all wrapped in a concise 85-minute package. It is also quite pleasant to look at, from the neat work that cinematographer Zach Kuperstein and his camera crew do with stylish lenses and focus pulling to the surprisingly decent fire effects (for this genre), and to the excellent colour detail that even a streaming service's compression isn't able to suffocate. But you do eventually find out that the movie's utter lack of personality is the real (serial) killer, which is a bummer because the groundwork is laid smartly in the beginning. I wouldn't say that you shouldn't move towards the play button but you might want to look around for men or bears first, just to be safe. Maybe carry some kind of spray as well, just to be extra safe.
Smileys: Colouring
Frowneys: Originality, acting
No one wants to gas other bros up more than Richard.
2.5/5
Where to watch:
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