John Writes Words

I’ve heard Zach Cregger’s comedy wasn’t great, but his horror is 2/2. This is mostly a thriller as you wonder what happened with these kids, but then it becomes more horrific (mostly through violence) as it goes. The elliptical storytelling style of starting with one character, going forward a ways, then backtracking to tell another character’s story to go a little farther, is very effectively used to gradually share information with the audience. I watched this twice in the theater and will definitely buy it on disc.

Spoilery analysis follows.

I watched this twice before reviewing to make sure I was seeing it clearly and connecting the dots properly. I surely saw things the second time I missed the first time.

This family and community is destroyed because of an infiltrator who has an unspeakable, mysterious, self-serving, predatory agenda. What stood out to me on the second watching was that Aunt Gladys not a stranger. This decrepit interloper with a red head covering was a known family member. The parents of the boy (Alex) bring her in out of a sense of familial duty, though it becomes clear she was lying to conceal her agenda the whole time. Once she was in, she manipulated, controlled, hurt, bullied, and killed one person after another for her own purposes.

The important question in interpreting art is often, “If it’s not about what it’s about, what is it about?” I’d say this film – made in this day in America – reminds us that we may feel allegiance to a family member, political party, or other long-standing organization. If that allegiance is exploited and leads us to sacrifice our values, ideals, and true relationships with friends and family, then we are to blame for allowing it to go on. When it happens, it will stop only when the victims of that abuse use the weapons of their tormentors against them, inspire others to rise up, and firmly, decisively, and perhaps violently dispose of the evil that has invaded their lives, their community, and their nation. They will never fully recover, but future generations may learn a valuable lesson.