MOVIE REVIEW: YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT (R)
As the pandemic continues to dominate the news, some of the major studios have opted to go the VOD route with their product instead of waiting for theaters to reopen. If you’ve followed the entertainment news as of late, you know this practice caused quite a bit of contention between Universal Pictures and AMC Theaters. Contention that I suspect will fall by wayside once things start to get back to normal and once cooler heads ultimately prevail. For the time being, however, studios will continue to do what they’ve been doing in an effort to get quicker returns on their often hefty investments. The latest film to go directly to the home is the Kevin Bacon-headlined thriller, “You Should Have Left,” which just so happens to be a–you guessed it–Universal Pictures release. How is it? Well, quite frankly, had I seen it in a theater, the title would have been even more appropriate because I probably would have felt like leaving.
In “You Should Have Left.” banker Theo (Kevin Bacon) and his movie actress wife Susannna (Amanda Seyfried), move to an isolated home in the Welsh countryside with their precocious daughter, Ella (Avery Tiiu Essex.) Upon settling in to their new abode, things go from strange to stranger and eventually, the only thing more seemingly odd than the house itself are Theo’s escalating insecurities and deep-rooted suspicions, particularly where the flirty nature of his considerably younger wife is concerned. Is Theo just paranoid? Also, what does this house stand for and what the hell does it want? These are the primary questions at the heart of this film.
“You Should Have Left” was written and directed by David Koepp, a screenwriter by trade who just so happened to be quite the dominating force in the 90s having had a hand in the likes of “Jurassic Park,” “Carlito’s Way,” “Death Becomes Her,” “The Paper,” and “Mission: Impossible.” After a successful run as screenwriter, Keopp would jump into the director’s chair with a nifty little thriller called “The Trigger Effect.” He’d then go on to show even more promise with solid efforts like “Stir of Echoes,” “The Secret Window,” and the underappreciated dramedy, “Ghost Town.” I wish I could say “You Should Have Left” is in the same league as Koepp’s other directorial efforts. Sadly, it isn’t. Not that this is a bad movie by any means. It’s just a very uneventful one.
The film starts off strong enough and it’s certainly at its best when it’s delving into the strange happenings exhibited by a most labyrinthian home. A gag in which Theo discovers the house measures differently on the inside than it does on the outside is a cool one. It’s a fun little Twilight Zone-esque hook and it’s a shame there aren’t more of them. Likewise, a sequence in which Theo and Ella attempt to flee the house in the middle of the night is both atmospheric and unnerving.
Alas, “You Should Have Left” isn’t nearly as interesting in the character department and it suffers mightily when it predictably sets up Theo as a man with a questionable past. The mystery surrounding this character isn’t particularly mysterious and many viewers might often find themselves a step ahead of the conventional plot developments that drive the story. And given that “You Should Have Left” is encased in a sort of mystery framework, the predictability of it all is a bit of a problem.
Another issue in “You Should Have Left” is the cast chemistry. Or lack thereof. Bacon (who collaborated with Koepp on “Stir of Echoes”) is a very dependable actor and he’s solid as an insecure Theo even when the writing let’s this veteran actor down. Seyfried is bubbly, energetic, and sexy as Susanna but this is a character of very little depth. As a team, there’s simply something amiss. Theo and Susanna don’t feel like a real married couple. Perhaps that’s part of the point but because of a lack of connection, it makes one of this film’s pivotal character reveals feel all the more underwhelming.
Again, “You Should Have Left” isn’t a bad movie. It’s just a painfully uneventful one and quite frankly, it’s all sort of over before anything substantial happens. It has some style and offers up a handful of creepy moments but it never really amounts to the sort of emotional payoff it’s reaching for. If you’re looking for a poignant horror show in which a creepy house holds up a mirror to its characters and forces them to face their demons, I’d suggest Netflix’s “The Haunting of Hill House” or SyFy’s “Channel Zero: No End House.” True, both of those titles benefit from long form storytelling, but they’re infinitely more complex, undeniably more heartfelt, and much scarier than the disappointing “You Should Have Lefft.”
