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Unfortunately, with a poorly etched character, he does not have much to offer, in terms of performance. With his innocently bewildered looks, he has a magnetic screen presence. Jacob Tremblay, after featuring in the Oscar-nominated role in the psychological drama "Room", plays yet another emotionally troubled child. She is ably supported by the rest of the team.Ĭharlie Heaton as Mary's stepson Stephen and Oliver Platt are both perfunctory.Īlex Braunstein as Mary's patient Aaron and David Cubitt as his father who makes romantic overtures to Mary are wasted with limited screen time. She does the best she can, but with a weak script, there is little, she or any other actor, can do. Naomi Watts, stuck in a pool of sad B-grade films, as Mary, is engaging and appealing as always. With all ingredients of the horror genre like a large house in a rural area set in a snow-clad winter and with characters endlessly searching for things in the dark along with nightmare sequences and a few cheap, lazy jump-scares, the script by Christina Hodson is lurid and unconvincing. And, director Farren Blackburn offers more to this, making the story far-fetched. He assures her that she is suffering from Parasomnia. What follows is Mary's nightmares and troubled vision.īelieving her house to be haunted, she contacts her mentor, Dr Bennett Wilson (Oliver Platt) with whom she communicates via skype. But, before she can return him to his caretaker, Tom disappears. She lives in a large, rural house with her teenage stepson Stephen (Charlie Heaton) who has been paralyzed neck down, after an accident and with no chance of an improvement.įeeding and bathing the motionless young man, Mary lives a solitary life till one of her young patients, the nine-year-old Tom (Jacob Tremblay) unexpectedly turns up at her door, in fact, in her car, one cold winter night. The narrative revolves around Mary Portman (Naomi Watts), a clinical psychologist specialising in troubled children. While it delivers its moderately effective jump-scares, it completely ignores the story's looming, daunting psychological and emotional ramifications. For, despite a fairly reasonable cast, this film is an astonishingly hollow thriller. To digest "Shut In", you may have to shut out your powers of reasoning. Unfortunately, director Farren Blackburn's latest film "Shut In" offers nothing to ruminate. Horror films leave an indelible mark on its audience when, they are ground-breaking, edgy, deep and engaging - either by performance, story, direction or photography - and they resonate long after the first viewing. Film: "Shut In" Director: Farren Blackburn Cast: Naomi Watts, Oliver Platt, Charlie Heaton, Jacob Tremblay, David Cubitt, Clementine Poidatz and Alex Braunstein Rating: *1/2