Vague

Rating: 5/10 (2 January 2019)

What is "it"?
Why has "it" come to Earth?
How did "it" get to Earth?
Why do crazy people not try to kill themselves?
Why is "it" unable to enter buildings?
Is "it" even a metaphor for anything?
Why does "it" want people to die?
Why is there a school for the blind in the middle of a forest next to a raging river?
Why do the children act the complete opposite to how actual children would act in that situation?
How did the children know how to swim?
How did the birds not die during the rapids scene?
.....is that Machine Gun Kelly?...
Just some of the questions that you'll ask yourself while watching this film.
Sandra Bullock must journey down a river blindfolded with two children named Boy and Girl in hope of finding refuge at the end of the trail. This is integrated with flashbacks to let us know how we got to this position in the first place, which is a actually not done too badly in terms of pace for at least the first half of the film. Its only when you realise that none of these people are going to make it on this journey with her that it becomes less of a question of whether they'll make it or not and more of a question of "I wonder how this one's gunna die?"
It saps a lot of the tension from any scene these side characters are in, which is a shame as the cinematography and sound design was for the most part pretty solid. There are tense scenes and it does keep you guessing as to whats going to happen next but as the film goes on it begins to drag and the repetitive soundtrack gets a little irritating.
Also at certain points its hard to take an entity like "it" seriously when closing your eyes is an effective way of avoiding it completely. Yes it would suck to have to close your eyes every time you went outside but is it really Horror movie Material?
The first act in which everyone is realising this phenomenon and begin committing suicide on a mass level is fun.Cinematography is good and it does make you want to learn about whats going on. Overall effective.
Second act in which people are having to hide together from the outside world in some random house wasn't too bad...or good really. We learn a bit about the characters but not enough for me to actually care that much when they were in danger and not even enough to remember any of their names. It's set up right from the start that none of these people are going to make it so its hard to connect to people not even the script cares about. Also hard to take a character seriously when all you can see is Machine Gun Kelly. I don't think he's a bad actor I just think he sticks out like a sore thumb. Luckily he's not in this film too much and his character has no impact on anything or anyone around him what so ever except that cop woman he bangs just...coz...and then he steals a car, leaving the remaining survivors stranded with limited supplies.
Does he get away and seek refuge at the supermarket? Does he die? Does he feel bad about what he did? We'll never know because the film never goes into it.
I guess he cost a lot for the production company to put him in the film so they gave him like 6 lines and then just had him..drive away. Brilliant.
Evil crazy English guy enters the group and John Malcovich doesn't trust him. Which is completely predictable given his character is just "the grumpy old man" however we as an audience are somewhat understanding of his position this time as it has been several hours since this whole thing kicked off and it comes across as fishy when some random starts knocking on the door.
Old man gets locked in garage for being a d**k.
New guy is actually crazy and exposes some of the survivors to "it"
most of the team dies and now Sandra Bullock and her new love interest must conveiniently escape together.
How, where, why?...you'll never know the film just cuts to 5 years later.
Third act and Sandra Bullock is clearly standing out as having the best acting in this film. If it was not for how good she was in this role it'd be a 3-4 rating. Tom the boyfriend was alright I guess but nothing special. The kids actually are good actors its just the script has not incorporated them into the film whatsoever. They're almost props for Sandra Bullock to struggle with more as she journeys down the river.
They've somehow been surviving for 5 years in the same house, doing "runs". Essentially going out and scavenging for supplies, mainly in other houses. Don't know how the water supply has been consistent for 5 years with everyone on the planet dead but never mind the film never explains it. Move on.
The couple have an argument because its the third act and thats what happens in films. There needs to be conflict between at least two of the protagonists.
Tom sacrifices himself because thats what happens in the third act of films usually, leaving Sandra Bullock to look after the children all alone.
Im calling her Sandra Bullock because at this point (waaaay over an hour in) I still have no idea what her characters name is.
She decides to take the ultimate risk and seek out a compound she was previously told about by a mysterious man on the radio. Blindfolded, with two 5 year old children who are also blindfolded. Luckily the script has them act like robots so not too much of an issue.
They have a brief encounter with "it" which is prevented completely by keeping their eyes shut and the they escape to the compound which is again...conveniently cut off from the rest of the world. Its completely covered in thick green plants. This is enough to shield them from "it". Will they have to be concerned for when the plants die, leaving them exposed? who knows...the film doesn't care.
Sandra Bullock...I mean Mallorie names the kids after 2 dead characters, she talks to that girl from bend it like Beckham and we're supposed to think that this has some sort of subtext surrounding motherhood or something...I don't know the film never explains it.
Cut, thats a wrap, thanks for coming everyone...aaaaaaand credits.
Ultimately, this film is not bad. Thats about as much praise as I can give it though unfortunately. Good Acting for the most part, good cinematography and an incredibly vague antagonist.
The rules of this world are bizarre. Sometimes taking you out of the film to have to ask yourself questions about why things are happening the way they are, but at least this film does stick to the rules it sets up for itself.
Honestly don't understand the hype surrounding this film although films like Aquaman make hundreds of millions on their opening week so I guess people really aren't that demanding of films to be good or make sense. I feel like there was a lot of potential with this film and some good ideas that could have been expanded on but it just didn't quite hit the mark for me. I think anything under a 5 is a discredit to Susanne Bier and anything over a 6 is just...wrong.
Wouldn't say I'd really recommend this film although if the premise is appealing check it out, you'll probably have a good time with this one.
If this was a short film it would've made more sense and could have been genuinely masterful.
Sadly......it was not.