Movies
[Fantastic Fest ’11 Review] ‘You’re Next’ Cleans Up Awards, Another Rave Review!
Acquired by Lionsgate with hopes of becoming their next big franchise, Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett’s You’re Next cleaned up the horror awards at the Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas. The home invasion slasher won “Best Picture,” “Best Director” (Wingard), “Best Screenplay” (Barrett) and “Best Actor” (Sharni Vinson). In the film a family comes under a terrifying and sadistic attack during a reunion getaway.
In addition to our first rave review out of TIFF, below you’ll find Brad McHargue’s thoughts on the film that he calls “one of the best theater-going experiences of the year.”
Last year writer Simon Barrett and director Adam Wingard brought us A Horrible Way to Die, a tense, slow burn of a thriller splashed with a dash of the mumblecore aesthetic and containing one of AJ Bowen’s best performances since The Signal. Now, one year later, the filmmaking duo have returned with their answer to the home invasion thriller, the incredibly hilarious and insanely violent You’re Next.
You’re Next tells the unfortunate tale of the Davison family and what happens when a gang of masked intruders armed with crossbows interrupt their peaceful night. Gathering together at their parents’ mansion to celebrate their 35th anniversary, siblings Crispian, Felix, Drake, and Aimee, along with their significant others, settle in for an awkward dinner filled with all the sibling rivalry the family can muster. This, unfortunately, is interrupted by a gang of masked marauders brandishing crossbows and a burning desire to kill every single person in the house. Cripsian’s girlfriend Erin, a tiny yet ferocious Aussie, takes it upon herself to try and keep everyone safe.
You’re Next is a brilliant send-up of the “home invasion” sub-genre. Throughout the film every possible convention you can think of – cell phones not working, heading to the basement for safety, et al – is poked fun at through quick witted dialogue with just the right amount of subtlety to prevent it from straying into outright parody. It’s more straight horror than it is a parody a la Scream, but the subtle jabs at the genre are there. In addition, unlike many horror comedies that tend to move away from humor as the tension rises, the comedy in You’re Next is paced in a way that is remarkably even-handed, with random quips, humorous banter, and brilliant satire appearing exactly when needed.
Much of this is accomplished through the pitch perfect performances of almost everyone involved, particularly the trio of male siblings and our intrepid hero Erin. The former, played by AJ Bowen, Joe Swanberg, and Nicholas Tucci, play off each other, hurling insults and engaging in witty banter anyone with a sibling can relate to; the latter, played by Sharni Vinson, kicks so much ass you’ll stand up in your seat and cheer. When looked at as a group, each character had a distinct personality that brought something wholly unique and, in most cases, just downright fun to the extended siege on the Davison house.
As their situation worsens, this gives way to pithy one-liners; several moments elicited gut-busting laughter from the audience, though this was quickly tempered by the amazing pacing and undeniably entertaining violence. There isn’t a single dull moment in the film, and when you’re not laughing, you’re cringing.
The direction of the film was spot on, though director Adam Wingard failed to learn from the mistakes he made in A Horrible Way to Die. There is absolutely no reason to shake the camera so much, especially during some of the more tense scenes. Thankfully, much of it tapered off as the film progressed or, in some instances, wasn’t anywhere near as bad as it could have been. Beyond this, the only real complaint comes from a seemingly irrelevant part of the film that is seemingly introduced to inform a later scene, despite it not working within the context of the film. It’s a minor quibble, but one that deserves a mention.
You’re Next is one of the best horror films of the year, and with its acquisition by Lionsgate, we can only hope that its release is successful. Don’t let its run-of-the-mill premise fool you – it has its tongue planted firmly in its cheek while maintaining a necessary sense of respect for the genre, and the end result is one of the best theater-going experiences of the year.
4.5/5 skulls
Judging from the unprecedented box office success of Kane Parsons’ Backrooms adaptation, you’ve likely already seen the liminal horror hit that managed to make audiences afraid of empty hallways and bad wallpaper. And now that so many of us have already entered the yellow labyrinth (some of us more than once), the time has come to discuss the spoiler-filled details that make the movie so fascinating in the first place.
And if there’s one element here that makes the Backrooms movie stand out from any previous lore/mythology, it has to be the genius addition of the Still Life entities. Warped recreations of real people that somehow wandered into the Complex, these misremembered creatures are responsible for some of the most disturbing imagery of 2026 – as well as laugh-out-loud memes created by one of the film’s very own concept artists.
However, true to Parsons’ word that the movie would rely heavily on practical effects, each of these distorted monsters was brought to life by real actors under heavy layers of makeup and prosthetics (with the occasional splash of CGI enhancements). While Anora and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You actress Ivy Wolk wasn’t among these performers, despite what Letterboxd might have you believe, the creature cast did benefit from veteran players with plenty of genre experience.
For starters, Alien: Romulus alumni Robert Bobroczkyi (who previously brought that film’s horrific Offspring to life during its most memorable sequence) plays the flick’s main antagonist, the Still Life version of Captain Clark. And though there was some obvious CGI involved in making the character’s peg-leg and nightmarish face more believable, Bobroczkyi’s monstrous performance and his natural 7’7″ frame helped to make that final chase sequence a clear highlight among this year’s genre offerings.
The film’s Texas-Chain-Saw-inspired “dinner” scene also features a freaky collection of less-aggressive Still Life creatures in the form of the Bearded Man, the Red-Headed Woman and, strangest of them all, the cheekily named “Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life” (who earned this title among fans and crewmembers as a reference to his apparent affinity for lamps).
While this was the first major horror outing for both Patrick Baynham (The Bearded Man) and Dana Mahmood (Archibald), Rhiannon Roberts has worked as a stunt performer in everything from Yellowjackets to HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation – which is probably why The Red-Headed Woman is the most active out of Clark’s impromptu “family.” That being said, the Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life is my personal favorite of the bunch simply because his anachronistic outfit suggests that the Backrooms phenomenon might be a lot older than the Async Foundation. I also love how hard he tries to be helpful with that little light of his!
That might be it for the Still Life entities, but I think horror fans will also be pleased to hear that the film’s Found Footage prologue stars none other than Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City star Avan Jogia as Naren Warne – and American Mary herself Katharine Isabelle also shows up in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo at Mary’s house party towards the middle of the story (though I have a feeling that she originally had a bigger part that was likely cut for time).
At the end of the day, Parsons’ Backrooms may have been an auteur-driven project motivated by the young director’s unique take on the classic creepypasta, but film has always been a collective artform, so it’s fun to see just how many talented performers it takes to bring this kind of supernatural nightmare to life in a way that connects with so many people.
You must be logged in to post a comment.