Back in 2016, Sam Raimi lent his name as producer to high-concept horror-thriller Don’t Breathe – a home-invasion tale with a nasty twist. Nearly a decade later, he’s back as producer on high-concept horror-thriller Don’t Move – and while it’s not part of any kind of ‘Don’t Cinematic Universe’, it’s another short, sharp genre shocker with plenty of punch.
This time, the hook is that it’s a cat-and-mouse serial-killer thriller, with a mouse who can’t actually run away. That’s because Iris (an impressive Kelsey Asbille) – mourning the loss of her son, considering suicide at the start of the film – has been injected with a “special relaxant” by the stranger who convinced her not to jump. She has 20 minutes until it takes effect, he tells her, and over the course of that time her body will become increasingly unresponsive. While the effects aren’t permanent, it’ll take a while for her motor functions to kick back into gear. The game, then, isn’t just about whether Iris can escape her killer – it’s whether she can play the long game and survive long enough until she regains autonomy.
Well-made popcorn entertainment just in time for Halloween.
Directors Adam Schindler and Brian Netto keep the pace up, constantly evolving the premise in novel ways, changing the stakes of the chase to keep things fresh over the course of 90 largely taut minutes. Along the way, Iris battles an ants’ nest, raging rapids, and an incoming lawnmower, all while trying to signal to strangers for help while unable to move anything more than her eyeballs. Asbille smartly modulates her performance, always believable in portraying Iris’ varying states of mobility, while Finn Wittrock is menacing enough as ‘Richard’ (or is he?), the killer who gets more than he bargained for with his latest prey.
The results are consistently engaging and well-calibrated for Friday-night Netflix viewing – a bright calling card for its filmmakers, even if it isn’t destined to live long in the memory. An attempt to give Richard some motivation in the final reel feels unnecessary, and despite some crunchy moments of violence, there isn’t any one sequence set to go down in horror history. But it’s well-made popcorn entertainment just in time for Halloween – and since it’s streaming straight to your living room, you can watch it right now. You don’t even have to move.