Don't Move is a 2024 American thriller film starring Kelsey Asbille, Finn Wittrock, Moray Treadwell, and Daniel Francis. It was directed by Adam Schindler and Brian Netto, and written by TJ Cimfel and David White. Netflix released the film on October 25, 2024.
| Don't Move | |
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 Release poster | |
| Directed by |
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| Written by |
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| Produced by |
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| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Zach Kuperstein |
| Edited by | Josh Ethier |
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| Distributed by | Netflix |
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Running time | 92 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Plot
editIris is grieving for her young son Mateo, who died during a family hiking trip. She visits the site of his death and, inconsolable, considers jumping off a cliff. A man appears, who introduces himself as Richard, and after talking to him for a few minutes, Iris changes her mind. She follows Richard back to their parked cars. At the cars he attacks her with a stun device. Incapacitated, he then ties her wrists and ankles with zip ties before placing her in the back of his car.
Iris recovers consciousness as Richard is driving them to a remote cabin he knows, where he tells her they will have "all weekend" together. Iris uses her pocket knife to cut the tie on her wrists, and she attacks Richard, causing him to crash the car. The two fight briefly, but Iris manages to get out of the car and cut the tie securing her ankles. But Richard then shows her a syringe and tells her that during their skirmish he injected her with a paralysing agent, which will gradually render her helpless over the space of about 20 minutes.
Iris runs off into the woods, with Richard following at a leisurely pace, as he knows the injection will soon take effect. But as Iris slowly loses the use of her limbs, she makes it to a river and floats downstream on her back. Washing up further down the shore, she uses the last of her mobility to drag herself on to dry land.
Iris has landed on an isolated property belonging to an elderly man, Bill, who finds her as he is mowing his lawn. He and Iris manage to communicate with her blinking her eyes (once for yes, twice for no) in response to his questions. He takes her into his house and is about to call 911 when Richard turns up, this time introducing himself as "Andrew", and claiming to be looking for his wife. Bill does not mention Iris (who is lying behind the couch) as he doesn't trust Richard. He calls 911, but Richard attacks and kills him before setting the house on fire. Iris has begun to experience a return of mobility in her hands, and by pulling on the blind cord, she alerts Richard to her presence. He carries her out of the house and drives her away in Bill's truck, as a 911 response team speed towards the house.
While driving away from Bill’s house Richard receives a phone call from his daughter telling him about her report card. She also says she and her mother will be visiting the cabin that weekend. After passing the phone to her mother, Richard and his wife argue about his family coming to the cabin. Eventually Richard agrees and his wife says they will see him at 10:00 - meaning Richard and Iris will no longer be alone at the cabin all weekend.
Richard stops at a service station to refuel, and Iris - who is gradually recovering from the paralysis - unsuccessfully attempts to open the door of the truck. Richard drives back to his wrecked car to retrieve his property. While he is doing this, a police officer drives up and asks what's going on. Richard says his wife wrecked the car while drunk. The officer is unconvinced, and when he tries to talk to Iris, Richard kills him.
Richard transports himself and Iris to a small boat jetty, from which he intends to row Iris out to where he can dump her immobile body where he placed his earlier victims. But while in the boat, Iris is able to seize a knife, stab him through the neck, and push him overboard. He tries to climb back on to the boat, but Iris shoots him with his own gun, piercing the hull of the boat in the process. Despite the boat sinking, Iris manages to surface and swim to the jetty.
Further down the shore, Richard has dragged himself on to the bank. Iris stands over him as he dies, and thanks him, as during her struggle to escape from him she has rediscovered the will to go on living.
Cast
edit- Kelsey Asbille as Iris
- Finn Wittrock as Richard
- Moray Treadwell as Bill
- Daniel Francis as Dontrell, a police officer
Production
editIn December 2022, it was reported that Adam Schindler and Brian Netto would direct the thriller Don't Move, written by TJ Cimfel and David White.[2] It was produced by Sam Raimi and Zainab Azizi of Raimi Productions, Christian Mercuri's Capstone Studios, Alex Lebovici of Hammerstone Studios, and Sarah Sarandos.[3][4]
In May 2023, Kelsey Asbille and Finn Wittrock were cast in lead roles.[3] Principal photography took place in Bulgaria from June to late July 2023.[5][3] Two days before completion, production was granted an interim agreement to continue filming during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike.[5][6] Mark Korven and Michelle Osis scored the film.[7]
Release
editIn November 2023, Signature Entertainment acquired the distribution rights for the United Kingdom and Ireland.[8] In April 2024, Netflix bought worldwide rights.[9] The film was released on Netflix on October 25, 2024.[10]
Reception
editOn the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 70% of 33 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.9/10.[11] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 54 out of 100, based on eight critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[12]
References
edit- ^ "Don't Move (18)". British Board of Film Classification. October 24, 2024. Retrieved October 25, 2024.
- ^ Bergeson, Samantha (December 20, 2022). "Sam Raimi Announces Next Film Don't Move to Be Helmed by 50 Stages of Fright Co-Directors". IndieWire. Archived from the original on June 2, 2023. Retrieved June 2, 2023.
- ^ a b c Ritman, Alex (May 15, 2023). "Cannes: Kelsey Asbille, Finn Wittrock to Lead Horror Don't Move for Sam Raimi, Barbarian Exec Producer Alex Lebovici (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on May 17, 2023. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
- ^ Gajewski, Ryan (September 20, 2024). "Sam Raimi-Produced Netflix Thriller Don't Move Debuts Trailer With Kelsey Asbille, Finn Wittrock". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 20, 2024.
- ^ a b Kay, Jeremy (July 19, 2023). "Sam Raimi horror, The Watchers among new indie shoots approved by SAG-AFTRA". Screen Daily. Archived from the original on August 10, 2023. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
- ^ Kroll, Justin (July 19, 2023). "Ishana Night Shyamalan's The Watchers & Sam Raimi's Don't Move Among Latest Projects Granted SAG-AFTRA Waivers To Shoot During Strike". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on July 22, 2023. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
- ^ "Mark Korven & Michelle Osis Scoring Adam Schindler's & Brian Netto's Don't Move". Film Music Reporter. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
- ^ Ramachandran, Naman (November 1, 2023). "Sam Raimi-Produced Horror Thriller Don't Move Acquired for U.K., Ireland by Signature Entertainment (Exclusive)". Variety. Retrieved November 2, 2023.
- ^ Donnelly, Matt (April 9, 2024). "Netflix Acquires Horror-Thriller Don't Move Produced by Sam Raimi (Exclusive)". Variety. Retrieved April 9, 2024.
- ^ Sharf, Zack (October 4, 2024). "22 Best Movies New to Streaming in October: Despicable Me 4, Trap, Maxxxine and More". Variety. Retrieved October 25, 2024.
- ^ "Don't Move". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved October 31, 2024.
- ^ "Don't Move". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved October 31, 2024.
External links
edit- Don't Move on Netflix
- Don't Move at IMDb
