It's always a terrific surprise when a movie you've never heard of, in this case the British import The Owners, socks you in the gut and leaves you glad you took a chance on an unknown entity. This riveting and expertly-acted psychological horror flick isn't necessarily the most original piece ever created, but it's a white-knuckler that digs in and holds on for 90 minutes.
Maisie Williams is the headliner here and whether you're a Game of Thrones fan or not, there's a lot to love about her performance as Mary. From the outset, Mary's late for work and needs to get to her shift. Instead she becomes embroiled in her boyfriend Nathan's (Ian Kenny) cockamamie home invasion scheme. It's actually Nathan's sad-sack friend Terry (Andrew Ellis) who hatched the idea robbing Dr. and Mrs. Huggins (Sylvester McCoy and Rita Tushingham, respectively). Terry's mom was a domestic assistant for the elderly Huggins. They've apparently got quite a bundle tucked away in their safe.
So yes, it's another bungle heist flick, in a way. But the title serves as kind of a spoiler in and of itself—I don't know what, if any, "stand your ground" laws exist in Kent, England, but Dr. Huggins and his wife certainly aim to stand theirs. The increasingly demented means by which the Huggins' handle their unwelcome house guests, all set in their sprawling-yet-claustrophobic mansion, provide plenty of freak-out moments.
Going any further into a plot summary would do the film a disservice. Director Julius Berg keeps the pacing super tight while drawing finely-detailed performances from all involved. There's more to the relationships between these characters than can be initially imagined. The catalyst, perhaps, for things going awry is the third friend involved in the robbery, Gaz (Jake Curran). Of all the cast, Curran's amped-up tough guy might be the most memorable of the lot. And that's saying something for The Owners, a horror film with uncommonly sterling work from the entire cast.
The Blu-ray contains a brief promo-style featurette that includes a few interview clips with the cast.
Maisie Williams is the headliner here and whether you're a Game of Thrones fan or not, there's a lot to love about her performance as Mary. From the outset, Mary's late for work and needs to get to her shift. Instead she becomes embroiled in her boyfriend Nathan's (Ian Kenny) cockamamie home invasion scheme. It's actually Nathan's sad-sack friend Terry (Andrew Ellis) who hatched the idea robbing Dr. and Mrs. Huggins (Sylvester McCoy and Rita Tushingham, respectively). Terry's mom was a domestic assistant for the elderly Huggins. They've apparently got quite a bundle tucked away in their safe.
So yes, it's another bungle heist flick, in a way. But the title serves as kind of a spoiler in and of itself—I don't know what, if any, "stand your ground" laws exist in Kent, England, but Dr. Huggins and his wife certainly aim to stand theirs. The increasingly demented means by which the Huggins' handle their unwelcome house guests, all set in their sprawling-yet-claustrophobic mansion, provide plenty of freak-out moments.
Going any further into a plot summary would do the film a disservice. Director Julius Berg keeps the pacing super tight while drawing finely-detailed performances from all involved. There's more to the relationships between these characters than can be initially imagined. The catalyst, perhaps, for things going awry is the third friend involved in the robbery, Gaz (Jake Curran). Of all the cast, Curran's amped-up tough guy might be the most memorable of the lot. And that's saying something for The Owners, a horror film with uncommonly sterling work from the entire cast.
The Blu-ray contains a brief promo-style featurette that includes a few interview clips with the cast.
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