We’ve seen films like The Guest before.  The mysterious stranger that blows into town and ends up helping people before moving onto the next town.  That’s what The Guest wants you to think it is, but there’s way more than meets the eye here. It's one of the more interesting and unexpectedly great films of the year.  

 

The Guest tells the story of the Peterson family as their lives are changed when a soldier named David shows up on their doorstep claiming that he served with their son who was killed in action.  David is played by Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey), who gives an engaging performance.  David doesn’t waste any time ingratiating himself into a family that is still grieving over the loss of their son.  He befriends the young son of the family and helps him deal with bullies at school, he bonds with the father over beers, he helps out around the house and shares stories with the mother about her dead son.  He’s polite, soft-spoken and friendly, but there seems to be something off about him.  Who is he really and what does he want?

 

Stevens’ performance jumps off the screen.  He’s a rising star that’s about to go supernova.  As David, he shows his range as an actor.  He goes from sweet to sinister sometimes in the same scene.  He’s like a deadly Eddie Haskell.  Stevens has everything Hollywood looks for in a leading man.  He’s good-looking, charismatic and he can act.  He’s about to be very busy.

 

The Guest is directed by Adam Wingard, who directed the cult horror flick You’re Next.  Both films have proven that Wingard has a feel for genre films.  The Guest has a great 80’s throwback vibe.  It’s kind of difficult to put the film in any category. Sometimes it’s a thriller, sometimes it feels like a Western, sometimes it feels like an action film and the second half of the film is clearly a nod to the horror genre.  The best evidence of this is a great soundtrack that harkens back to some of John Carpenter’s films.  The Guest also includes one of the very best climaxes I’ve seen all year.  It’s skillfully staged and the final line of the film is one of the most perfect final lines you will see in a film all year.

 

The Guest also has great atmosphere.  The film takes place during Halloween and they really nailed the feel of a town going through the Halloween season.  The cinematography is also top notch.  Honestly, the level of polish all around is quite high, which makes me even more disappointed that films like this don’t receive wider releases.

 

The trailer for The Guest was running before almost every movie I saw for about a month, building anticipation for people like me only to have it receive a limited release.  This is another perfect example of Hollywood shielding people from anything that’s new or different in order to protect their profits.  It’s a business, I understand that.  However, how will you ever know what the public likes if you keep giving them the same stuff?  

 

On the other side of that, as consumers we have to be more open to films like this as a whole so they don’t get relegated to small releases, VOD and instant streaming.  All those places are fantastic ways for films like The Guest to find an audience, but it’s also a great way for films to get lost in the crowd.  The Guest deserves to stand out because it really is that good.

 

That being said, I understand why The Guest didn’t get a wide release.  It’s a hard movie to sell.  It doesn’t fit nicely into any specific genre, there aren’t any big stars in it and it’s certainly not for everybody.  However, I would urge anybody that is a fan of thrillers, 80’s horror films or just about anything different to seek this movie out.