Sick - A Movie Review

We are going to quarantine in style.

Sick is a 2023 film. Taking a break from the pandemic, Parker and Miri go to a solitary house on the lake for the weekend. Only, they are not alone. Stalked by a stranger, the girls must fight for survival.

Sitting on the edge of my seat, I misjudged Sick too soon. Sick copies most tropes from other slasher films, like Scream, which was distracting. Not only does it use the pandemic in its plotline, but Sick is also a clever and gory film.

At first, I thought Parker and Miri (Gideon Adlon and Bethlehem Million) were your average stereotypical friends who did dumb things in a horror situation and would not acquire any character whatsoever. While they did a few dumb things, these girls had impressive fighting skills.

Adlon and Million were terrific in establishing their character’s friendship. I liked seeing them laugh around. One takes the pandemic seriously, while the other is so desperate to escape the madness. Despite this contrast, the girls are there for one another. They fight together to get out of this situation.

Once the chaos spins out of control, they’re not sitting on their butts. Parker and Miri defend themselves. One gets badly injured but plasters a makeshift cast and continues to fight.

Sick is one violent film. I was not expecting that. Fights and kills are graphic. One character is bludgeoned in the face while another is brutally stabbed. The opening scene is terrifying. For anyone who is not a fan of stalker films, you should not watch Sick.

The pandemic scenario plays well into the storyline. The reveal of the suspect and their intentions is farfetched, but when you think about it, you have to remind yourself what the early stages of the pandemic were like.

I didn’t realize how much I blocked 2020 out so yet again seeing empty toilet paper shelves in the market, social distancing, and people jumping whenever someone coughed brought back memories from this stressful time. There was one instance where writers didn’t do their research, which had to do with Covid testing.

Despite some noticeable slasher film references, John Hyams made Sick his own film. The film has great twists. One scene made me so frustrated that my mouth was agape realizing what was really at play.

Hyams did a great job with the filmmaking. The technical elements should not go unnoticed. The beginning is set up in a terrific one-shot. Hyams established the terror.

I cannot forget to mention the gorgeous house used for filming. The house is beautiful! The design of the house, both exterior and interior are beautifully decorated. A lake with a dock is outside overlooking gorgeous views. The house is an actual family residence in Utah.

I would have loved to escape to this house during quarantine. Except, not when a mysterious killer is stalking the grounds. Equipped with several twisted hallways, the killer could be around any corner. Every inch of the house is used, including the rooftop.

The film doesn’t take place in this one location the entire time. Characters run off into the lake and escape to a house across the lake.

Sick is not a perfect slasher film. Sick has several key nods to the Scream movies. The entire opening is cut and paste from the Scream films. The film should have been its own thing.

Sick is not the type of film you should watch alone. Check out Sick streaming on Peacock. My heart was racing throughout as I enjoyed every moment.