You Should Have Left (2020) Movie Review
Written By: JASR
Edited By: Grave Reviews Staff
Film Information
Director: David Koepp
Producers: Jason Blum, Dean O’Toole, Kevin Bacon
Writers: David Koepp, Daniel Kehlmann
Date Released: June 18, 2020
Cast:
Kevin Bacon as Theo / Stetler
Amanda Seyfried as Susanna
Avery Tiiu Essex as Ella
Colin Blumenau as Shopkeeper
Lowri Ann Richards as Welsh Woman
Joshua C Jackson as Production Assistant in Susanna’s Movie
Eli Powers as Susanna’s Assistant
Rating = 2.5/5 Graves
***May contain some spoilers***
Synopsis
You Should Have Left (2020) follows Susanna (Amanda Seyfried) and Theo (Kevin Bacon), a married couple with a noticeable age difference, and their daughter Ella (Avery Tiiu Essex). The family of three rents a vacation house in Wales to spend some time together before Susanna has to leave for work for eight weeks. The family, especially Theo, starts to experience a lot of unusual occurrences such as strange writings on his journal, never-ending stairs, and inconsistent rooms. He later discovers why these things have been happening and understands why they should have left.
Gore Factor
The bloody scenes in this movie are fairly limited. One particularly memorable gory scene would be the one where Theo purposely wounds himself using broken glass – hoping to wake up from a dream. Other violent scenes seem to be quite tolerable.
The Grave Review
One of the things that a viewer would first notice about this movie is the huge age difference between Amanda Seyfried and Kevin Bacon – with Seyfried born in 1985 and Bacon born in 1958. Some say this is not a good look for the movie, but I understand that the age difference is a necessary factor in the characters’ relationship. Theo’s (Kevin Bacon) age, enough to be Susanna’s (Amanda Seyfried) father, is a necessary factor to justify how he acts in the relationship. More than this, with Theo having been married before, it makes sense why he is not as young as his current wife.
This movie makes viewers feel like someone wrote down their nightmares and turned them into a movie. Seeing an unconscious loved one, walking up or down endless stairs, and being haunted by one’s past are only some of the nightmares we possibly have had that are shown in the movie.
It would be best for viewers not to miss a single second of this film because many puzzling parts are eventually explained. It is also the kind of movie that makes you crave for answers – many of which are given by the end of the movie. This factor makes the film both exciting and nerve-wracking for any kind of viewer.
The film was based on a novel, and with the movie’s perplexing scenes, I can imagine that the book must have been a lot more thrilling.
You Should Have Left would probably be a good psychological movie for those who haven’t seen a psychological thriller before, but for those who have seen a lot, this film might be a little half-baked. While the end of the movie gives answers to some questions, it still leaves a big chunk of questions unsolved.
Nevertheless, this film was fun to watch and left me with an unforgettable realization: Most of the time, your only antagonist is yourself.
For the foregoing reasons, Grave Reviews gives You Should Have Left (2020) two and a half graves out of five graves.
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