A painfully average movie with a stellar cast.

Rating: 4/10 (11 January 2019)

I watched this movie the night it was released on Netflix having not heard a single thing about it or the book it's based on. So I had the good fortune of not being exposed to the hype and going in blind... sorry I couldn't resist. I wish I could get as into this movie as everyone else but it was just really average in my opinion. I had no complaints about the cast, especially the little girl who was absolutely adorable and managed to make me feel genuinely nervous when she was in danger. Chalk that one up to me having daughters. Honestly the rest of the movie was kind of just a bore, the creatures get absolutely no info given other than their modus operandi. Mystery is always great but it would be nice to at least see the creatures that are so dangerous they've brought humanity to it's knees and make the survivors have to give up their most important sense to survive. But no, the most you get is the drawings that Gary does before going on the out of left field murder spree. It's never explained how some people see the creatures and live and become crazed servants. Maybe it's just me but I like SOME answers. Hell I'll take a news broadcast like Night of the Living Dead or a comment about a mysterious portal opening up to spew out a bunch of fog and eldritch horrors. Instead we get long scenes of people talking, arguing, having ridiculous petty problems, being mean to cute kids, and having awkward sex. Also with a sprinkling of brutal suicides and a sappy feel good ending that seems a bit at odds with the nightmare world they tried to establish. It's not the worst movie I've seen by a long shot, just one you have to accept getting absolutely no answers from. If that's something you can over look then you will probably enjoy it.