 | MOVIE DETAILS • Name: Wired Shut • Year: 2021 • Country: Canada • Director: Alexander Sharp • Main cast: Blake Stadel, Natalie Sharp, Behtash Fazlali • Runtime: 95 minutes • Production company: Sharpy, Wired Shut Production • TRAILER
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Home invasion, the subgenre where one or several individuals break into someone’s home usually to commit a robbery, like in Miguel Ángel Vivas’ Secuestrados (2010), or for pure revenge, like in Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury’s À l’intérieur (2007). There are plenty of titles in the subgenre, that popularly have as the biggest referent in Michael Haneke’s Funny Games (1997), but I just mentioned my 2 favorite ones, the ones that I consider more representative of the horror and anguish this style of psychological horror-thriller can provide. And, now, I must add to the list one extra title, a little and unexpected surprise, Wired Shut (2021).
Wired Shut (2021) has a very simple premise, with only 3 actors and one location, the kind of simplicity I like. And the whole plot and history of the characters get revealed alongside the running time, without annoying exhausting introductions and even leaving some of the facts as a mystery, so the audience can make up their own story, as I also like. Because this is the story of a best-seller novelist who had a mysterious accident and had to go through major reconstructive jaw surgery. So the man is alone in his luxurious mountain home, and can not say a word. Then, one day he receives the visit of his daughter, a daughter who hates him, a daughter who grew up with a missing father, a father that spent more time with his vices, cheats, and lies than with his family. And then it all goes south.
The entire movie is surrounded by minimalism. Not only because of the limited acting crew and the one location, but also the decoration of the luxurious house is quite arid, leaving the whole thing a very cold sensation, and the noisy eerie ambient music works fine not being intrusive but yet creating a restless feeling. Despite this being his debut feature film, the director Alexander Sharp manages to imprint the overwhelming and creeping tone alongside the entire running time.
The strongest asset in Wired Shut (2021) is, without a doubt, the screenplay. With very limited elements as the ones mentioned, it is not an easy task to create a piece of entertainment that must keep the audience in tension for over an hour and a half. The whole weight of the story is revealed by the conversations the characters have, and we must never forget one of the third of the characters cannot speak. The timing in how every piece of information is unveiled is also a key in keeping the story alive.
Wired Shut (2021) is a movie where all the parts work smoothly like a watch. The three actors accomplish their duties without a flaw, the cinematography and music deliver the perfect bare atmosphere for the happenings in the film to remain tense, and when the action is getting more physical the scenes are cruel enough while still being credible. The limitations are many and they are known, but the global performance of the cast and crew do a sublime job it is all orchestrated by a very effective directorial craft by Alexander Sharp.
In a movie with these ingredients, with this setup, with this tone, with all these limitations, it is very easy to end up delivering a tedious and boring product. Instead, Wired Shut (2021) turned out to be a dark and exciting psychological thriller worth a watch. And, yes, some of the happenings and actions done by the characters can be questionable or perhaps not very credible, but that doesn’t subtract any hint of excitement in the global result.
RATE: 6/10
IMDB URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt9728962
