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Movie Review – The Rental

I really didn’t know what to expect from this Dave Franco directed horror film, but I kept an open mind while I was watching it this weekend. It veered off in a direction that I wasn’t expecting and did so in the best of ways.

Two couples rent a remote house for a fun weekend. One of them brought some Molly (code word for ecstasy). Three of these characters partook in these festivities while one (Michelle played by Alison Brie) chose to go to bed early so she could enjoy the Molly the following night. While she was sleeping Michelle’s partner Charlie (Dan Stevens) had shower sex with Mina (Sheila Vand). Mina’s parnter, Josh, was also unaware of this.

Charlie and Mina pretend as if it didn’t happen the following morning until Mina discovers hidden cameras in all the showers. They assume that the caretaker is the one doing the filming but choose not to call the police since Josh and Michelle would find out about their little affair.

Michelle, wanting to use the broken hot tub, calls the caretaker for assistance. When he comes over, Mina accuses him of hiding the hidden cameras in the showers. They start yelling at each other and Josh comes in to find defend Mina.

While all of this is going on, we start getting hints that someone else might be watching these two couples. Their paranoia at the isolated house starts to get the best of them, especially when the person who hid the cameras starts sending Michelle and Josh the video of their partners having sex in the shower.

This film is more suspenseful than scary but it does this well. The characters are so self absorbed that none of them take any notice that something suspicious is going on. It never occurs to any of them after they find the shower cameras that there might be cameras hidden elsewhere. Their dog also goes missing for an entire day and none of them notice.

These are the kind of people that make it easy for a predator to take advantage of the situation. They are neither likable or unlikable. They just are. Really, the only one I felt for was Michelle who really was just there to have a good time, even when the other three chose not to partake in Molly on the second evening.

I was really expecting the characters to kill each other when Charlie had sex with Mina, so it was was a nice twist to have the movie veer off into masked killer territory. If you are looking for something suspenseful to watch during your quarantine, this is an excellent choice. It’s currently available for rental on streaming sites like Vudu.

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