Adam Wingard's The Guest is an entertaining thriller, but if there ever was a film about the debilitating effects of war, here it is. The action sequences here are no different from any other action movie of recent years, but the underlying themes add an extra layer of meaning.
The movie follows a soldier who appears at a family's doorsteps claiming to have fought alongside their deceased son in the army. The soldier, played suave, if not charming (and appropriately unhinged later in the film), by Dan Stevens, is welcomed into the family and allowed to sleep in his comrade's childhood bedroom. Soon, the family's daughter begins to suspect his involvement in a series of deaths that hit close to home.
The soldier, a man by the name of David Collins, insinuates himself in the family's lives. David makes it his mission to ascertain whether they feel loved by the lost son, and improve their lives to the best of his abilities. The father - after multiple beers - confides in David and confesses to him his insecurities at work. The son, Luke, is inhibited and bullied, and the daughter, Anna, is stuck in a plodding relationship. The dad's superior is found inexplicably dead, the bullies are hospitalized, and the boyfriend is being penned for a murder he did not commit, with evidence heavily suggesting otherwise. Anna has her suspicions.
There's a fine line being drawn between a hero and villain. Like a hero, David's actions are intended for the betterment of the family, but like a villain, the means are increasingly macabre. The fight scenes in the first act look on the surface to be badass, but the violence is not to be gawked at. For example, in an early scene set in a bar, David attacks a group of high school students. Many will invariably deem the fight "cool," but what we have here is a grown man bullying kids. The morality of the students is questionable, but the course of action is gratuitous, nonetheless.
There's the usual stuff like the convoluted and over-the-top reveal that David underwent a special intelligence experiment (technically a spoiler but I won't divulge the specifics). There's the obligatory scene where the daughter overhears the guest calling a hit. And there are some equally clichéd scenes sprinkled throughout.
But protruding past the frankly familiar facade, the film offers a scathing look at not just what war does to soldiers and their families, but the damage the military itself does to people.
David is a man made into a weapon by the military. This disregard for the sanctity of life is prominent throughout the film. A teacher is brutally stabbed by David and the camera pans to the corpse - lingering - to suggest that the bloody death is not a product of mental illness or substance abuse, but military intervention.
The movie follows a soldier who appears at a family's doorsteps claiming to have fought alongside their deceased son in the army. The soldier, played suave, if not charming (and appropriately unhinged later in the film), by Dan Stevens, is welcomed into the family and allowed to sleep in his comrade's childhood bedroom. Soon, the family's daughter begins to suspect his involvement in a series of deaths that hit close to home.
The soldier, a man by the name of David Collins, insinuates himself in the family's lives. David makes it his mission to ascertain whether they feel loved by the lost son, and improve their lives to the best of his abilities. The father - after multiple beers - confides in David and confesses to him his insecurities at work. The son, Luke, is inhibited and bullied, and the daughter, Anna, is stuck in a plodding relationship. The dad's superior is found inexplicably dead, the bullies are hospitalized, and the boyfriend is being penned for a murder he did not commit, with evidence heavily suggesting otherwise. Anna has her suspicions.
There's a fine line being drawn between a hero and villain. Like a hero, David's actions are intended for the betterment of the family, but like a villain, the means are increasingly macabre. The fight scenes in the first act look on the surface to be badass, but the violence is not to be gawked at. For example, in an early scene set in a bar, David attacks a group of high school students. Many will invariably deem the fight "cool," but what we have here is a grown man bullying kids. The morality of the students is questionable, but the course of action is gratuitous, nonetheless.
There's the usual stuff like the convoluted and over-the-top reveal that David underwent a special intelligence experiment (technically a spoiler but I won't divulge the specifics). There's the obligatory scene where the daughter overhears the guest calling a hit. And there are some equally clichéd scenes sprinkled throughout.
But protruding past the frankly familiar facade, the film offers a scathing look at not just what war does to soldiers and their families, but the damage the military itself does to people.
David is a man made into a weapon by the military. This disregard for the sanctity of life is prominent throughout the film. A teacher is brutally stabbed by David and the camera pans to the corpse - lingering - to suggest that the bloody death is not a product of mental illness or substance abuse, but military intervention.