I guess I was expecting a lot better....

Rating: 5/10 (21 June 2018)

I didn't know much of anything about the film before walking into the theater other than what the advertisements were saying that it was an instant horror classic....
Well.... Meh.
It's OK, but just so mediocre. I was very much in the mood for a good thriller, but all this film did was to make me appreciate Rosemary's Baby a whole lot more. What Roman Polanski did with that film is what this film desperately needs....much better pacing, a tighter script, and less cliched shot setups. Much like Mia Farrow in Rosemary's Baby, I kept waiting for a big payoff with Toni Collette's character...that horror shot Mia had when she looked inside the crib for the first time. Never happened here.
This film tries. And, it's obvious what the filmmaker's inspiration and influences are. But, this film could and should have been so much better if placed in the hands of a more experienced director and a group of writers could have tightened up a slow moving plot.
Too many choices made by the filmmaker in this piece do not deliver what could have been a taut psychological thriller. Instead, it plays like a nightmare where you wonder if the ending is going to be someone just waking up and dismissing all of it as a dream.
Acting is not bad. Toni Collette does an excellent job in spite of the script they gave her. And, the mood and feel of the film is rather creepy. But, it could and should have been even more creepy.
In the end, I fall into the camp who feels all of this was way oversold and overhyped. Shame.