The Guest – film review

The Guest is a 2014 action thriller directed by horror regular Adam Wingard and starring Dan Stevens (of Downton Abbey fame!) Maika Monroe (It Follows) and Brendan Mayer.

Now before I bore the pants off you (not as fun as it sounds) I must just say that if there is a fiber in your being thinking you’d probably really like this movie, that it sounds like your kind of movie and you’d kind of like to watch it then STOP READING NOW. Stop reading now and just watch it. But for those of you unsure (or desperate for more), please read on.

So The Guest’s title refers to main character David (Stevens) who, at the beginning of the film, is seen knocking on the door of the Peterson household, introducing himself as a friend of their son who died at war. David ‘the guest’ is welcomed into their home immediately – but is everything as normal as it seems?

Well, short answer – no. And as the dead bodies mount up, so does suspicion towards David. But really The Guest is a movie that is best watched blindly with little knowledge on the plot beforehand. All you really need to know is that David knocks on the door and then basically it’s a series of no holds barred, adrenaline fuelled thrill ride type stuff.

But see for yourself, it’s more fun that way.

So what else can we discuss?

Well the soundtrack is absolutely divine. It reminded me of the Drive soundtrack (and that won’t be the first comparison to Drive that you’ll hear either) but a lot less smushy and a lot more kick arse. It’s made up of 80s synth-pop and weird German rock music crossed with trance.

It’s very atmospheric and massively adds to the feel of the film. I’d go as far to say that the film relies somewhat on the soundtrack. It enhances scenes incredibly, whether you consciously realise it or not. The crescendos of music match the crescendos of the film – literally and figuratively.

So speculation says that The Guest was either made as a homage to 80s action / thriller films (extremely likely), a tongue-in-cheek imitation of the same genre (very possible) and I’ve also read this classic – “a cross between The Terminator and The Bourne Identity”. Perhaps, but it’s so much better.

First and foremost The Guest is a fun film. It never gets dull. It’s the kind of movie that after it’s finished you think heck, shall we put that on again?! Dan Stevens is also amazing as David and I’m not just talking about scenes like this…

Though scenes like this were gratefully received. And I 100% know I’m not alone in thinking this (the rest of the female population does too).

In all seriousness though it must be said that Dan Stevens is absolutely brilliant in this. His performance really stood out and I thought his accent was great. Accents can be tricky for even the most established of actors but he sounded proper, low key American.

And you don’t have to actually fancy David to respect and adore him. I watched The Guest with my brother and he was in love with him after about 15 minutes too. He’s just one of those cool-as-a-cucumber type people (even a bit smug at times) and Stevens plays him soooo well.

David is such an interesting character! You know he’s dangerous, you know there’s more to him than meets the eye – but he’s pretty, he’s polite and he never raises his voice. Though the whole movie is awesome with super slick violence and over the top greatness, it’s undoubtedly David that leads the show.

The Guest is a very entertaining and interesting movie. One that – if I dare say – you don’t see every day. Loads of fun throughout, absolutely fantastic soundtrack and concluding with a dramatic and kind of hilarious action filled ending.

I would highly recommend this movie, it’s the best I’ve seen in a long time.

And can I just say quickly, how much does Luke (Brandon Meyer) look like Chloe Moretz?! It’s seriously uncanny.