Hostage House Review

Move aside, Hollywood blockbusters; the independent film community is coming back strong!

Hostage House, directed by David Benullo, was just released to Netflix, and proves that you don’t need flashy effects or loud car chases to make an entertaining film. Sometimes, all you need is a handful of talented actors, a beautiful house, and a cameraman and director who know what they’re doing (i.e no shaky cam THANK GOD!)

The plot isn’t new. What plot is, nowadays? It reminded me a lot of the film Panic Room starring Jodie Foster. What this movie has to its advantage over Panic Room is its knowledge of pacing. Panic Room had all three antagonists operating in the same space at the same time, plus Foster’s character trying to protect herself and her daughter. Time had to be split between too many dynamics, so we didn’t have a ton of time to connect to anyone. Hostage House has the same number of characters but keeps them separated at various intervals; meaning the audience can take time to learn who everyone is, what their motivations are, and how they connect to each other. It’s a tighter web than Panic Room. You can follow the threads.

I also want to give props to the dialogue. Writer Daniel West could have easily fallen into the trap most independent screenwriters fall into: over-explaining everything so the audience won’t get lost. Side note: I saw Escape Room: Tournament of Champions this past weekend. I’m not exaggerating, the characters in that movie narrate EVERYTHING!! If a character is trying to break down a door, two others are shrieking behind her about how “the door’s too thick! It won’t break! Oh is that a pipe?! You grabbed a metal pipe?! Are you going to use that on the door?!”

I wanted to stand up and scream “shut UP!! Oh my GOD shut up!”

Writers of Escape Room: take a lesson from Daniel West. You can have characters explain things without explaining EVERYTHING.

The dialogue in Hostage House is clear enough that we’re painted a picture of past events without having that picture flung in our face. Everyone talks the way normal people in their situation would talk. When you’re stuck in a house with complete strangers, it’s natural to try and get to know them better; especially when none of you are certain how long you’ll have to stay there.

Casting and character-wise, the only weak link I could see was the character Paul. Oh…sweet Paul. I think this actor took a lot of his cues from older horror movies (the Halloween era perhaps). The actor, Richard Neil, clearly gives this performance his best effort. My problem is not with him at all. You know what it is? He’s very much That Guy from films like Friday the Thirteenth. He’s the principal from Carrie, the stern sheriff from countless slashers, that brand of archetype. I'm not a fan of that type of character (looking you, Mayor in Jaws), so I had a hard time not rolling my eyes whenever Paul showed up.

While Paul’s not terrible thanks to Neil's performance, he gets annoying pretty fast. It’s obvious why he’s in the narrative, he doesn’t do much to help Susan and Heather (in fact he causes more stress than he resolves), and I was watching the clock in the hopes that he wouldn’t stick around for very long. He was distracting me from Heather! Heather was cool!

Heather, played by Julia Terranova, actually reminds me of Alison from Tucker and Dale versus Evil. She’s my favorite sort of character; young, bright, doesn’t take guff from anyone, and doesn’t completely cave to her fear. She’s sympathetic without being weak or whiney.

I’m also a fan of the power dynamics; going back to the web and how clearly you can see each thread, Susan never loses control for more than a few seconds at a time. The captors, Keith (played by Justin C. Schilling) and Natalie (played by Emily Sweet), only appear to be in control because they’re armed. Age-wise, knowledge-wise, even physically, they don’t pose much of a threat without their weapons. To Susan (Jennifer Taylor), they’re not much more than two kids who got in over their heads. Natalie can fake confidence all she wants; nothing gets past a mother’s intuition. Susan’s clever, level-headed, and committed to protecting Heather. She doesn’t have time for hysterics. That time needs to be dedicated to assessing her situation.

I would have liked to learn more about Keith and Natalie. While I understand it’s not their story, there’s definitely a connection between them I would have liked to see be explored more. At the risk of having read the subtext wrong, I get the feeling Keith is only in this life for the sake of following Natalie. He’s so charming and slow to anger that I don’t see him choosing a life of crime on his own. Natalie is his polar opposite: quick to react, jumpy, and only interested in the endgame; whether that means killing Susan and Heather or not. To use one of my favorite metaphors: Keith picks the lock, Natalie kicks down the door.

Those warring personalities can also be seen in the actors’ physicality. Natalie distances herself from Susan and Heather; only getting close when she absolutely has to and drawing back as soon as her task is finished. Her face never gives away how she’s really feeling, except when she loses patience or her panic spirals out of control. Keith, on the other hand, is an open book expression-wise. There’s a sequence in which he’s listening to a conversation from behind a door, and without going over the top, his eyes tell the audience everything going through his mind: from concern to regret to relief, all without him saying a word. Unlike Natalie, he lets himself get close to Susan and Heather. He engages with them, asks questions, and doesn’t wall himself off like Natalie would.

This wasn’t the Bonnie and Clyde story I was expecting. If you watch the preview, keep that in mind. There’s more nuance here.

Is Hostage House perfect? No. No movie will ever be perfect, not even Citizen Kane. Is it loads better than some billion-dollar projects I’ve seen? Absolutely! You can tell this was a project someone wanted to make. It’s charming, exciting, I found myself getting invested in ninety-nine percent of the characters (sorry, Paul), and I’m looking forward to rewatching it very soon.

Add Hostage House to your list of Movie Night films; invite some friends over, give yourself permission to have a harmless fun time with a harmless fun film.