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Adam Sandler Hasn’t Changed. Have We?

Netflix’s love you , sandler’s first comedy special in years, does something unusual..

It needs to be said that, despite his current rehabilitation in the pop culture ferment, Adam Sandler has mostly starred in slop. I, like almost every other 33-year-old white guy on the planet, retain some fondness for the schlocky 88-minute comedies he produced in the late ’90s and early aughts: Billy Madison, The Waterboy, Big Daddy . But my affection for those films has much more to do with my wistfulness for a bygone, outrageously Y2K form of cable-TV osmosis that is impossible to replicate in the streaming age. It is 10 p.m. on a steaming summer night. You and your friends are a six-pack deep and crunched into an unventilated basement den. Someone flips on Spike TV. Happy Gilmore is on. Life has never been better.

This is the world in which Sandler became a superstar, and I think I speak for a lot of people when I say that I haven’t revisited much of his work since I left for college. The jokes weren’t great then, and they’ve only gotten worse since. Sandler put us all through a truly grotesque late prime; I think even his most ardent defenders would struggle to go to bat for Click , or Pixels, or the Boschian nightmare of Grown Ups and Grown Ups 2. ( Ten percent and 8 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, respectively.) The Sandler cinematic formula wore thin quickly. There were a lot of fart jokes. A lot of poop jokes. And a potentially lethal dose of Rob Schneider.

And yet, as Sandler enters his late 50s, all of his crimes have been miraculously washed away. He has flipped his fortunes, crossing over into bona fide Hollywood royalty status. Last year, he won the Mark Twain Prize . Soon he’ll be starring in a Noah Baumbach movie . And Love You, his first stand-up special in six years, debuted on Netflix this week and has yet to leave the platform’s top 10 most-watched programs—undoubtedly bolstered by strong endorsements from needle-movers like the New York Times . The comedy special is being framed as the next chapter in Sandler’s ongoing cultural coronation: more grist for the glow-up. Meanwhile, halfway through it, Sandler concludes a story about a genie who will only grant him three wishes if he gives a handjob to a man who just suffered explosive diarrhea in an airport bathroom. He hasn’t changed. Have we?

Sandler is adroit enough to drape Love You with the spoils of his newfound critical respect. The director here is Josh Safdie, one half of the Safdie brothers, who cast Sandler as the degenerate gambler Howard Ratner in the 2019 freak-out hit Uncut Gems . Sandler was the perfect complement to the Safdies’ one-of-a-kind sensory delirium—a world where everyone is perpetually taking a phone call in a crowded nightclub—and Josh Safdie sprinkles a little bit of that chaos into the preamble of this special. Sandler pushes through fans and hangers-on in the crowded halls backstage, everyone looking warmed-over, with gaping pores, under the piercing fluorescent lights. The venue resembles a dilapidated high school theater: cloistered and visibly uncomfortable, always threatening to fall apart. And it does, frequently. In one surreal sequence, a dog gallops toward the front row from the bowels of the green room, interrupting Sandler’s joke before getting scooped up by a mindful PA. (Those mishaps were planned, but Sandler didn’t know the shape they’d take until they happened.) The results bring to mind some of the edgier, more auteur-ish comedians on the circuit: Conner O’Malley, Sarah Sherman, Maria Bamford , all of whom are unlikely to appear in a Grown Ups 3. 

But when it comes to the jokes, Sandler remains deep in his comfort zone. There is a bit about accidentally sending a dick pic to Al Pacino. He sings a song about his sister’s ugly new boyfriend. He blames the imaginary illiterate brother of “Merriam-Webster” for the spelling of words like “answer” and “enough.” There is an extended riff about how he applies Botox to his penis, thus removing its wrinkles, leading to a conundrum where the men in the YMCA bathroom believe Sandler is erect when he is, in fact, fully flaccid. It is not brainy material, but these stories are delivered amicably, in a stream-of-consciousness blabber, without a shred of grievance or any discernible political posture bleeding in from the margins. Sandler is unapologetic about the things he finds funny. That was true in 1995, and it’s still true in 2024.

And frankly, that might be what’s animating the ongoing Sandler renaissance. Nearly all his peers—particularly his ’90s-era Saturday Night Live compatriots—are heavily invested in what they perceive as a war for the soul of comedy. It has led to some exhausting, redundant seminars posing as stand-up specials. I never needed to hear Chris Rock say the word “woke,” but he still has dedicated swaths of his Netflix oeuvre to debating the ideology. Sandler should ostensibly fit the same mold: He’s a man in his late 50s who can credit much of his success to the lowbrow territory in which his filmography treads. And yet, if he feels under siege by sensitive snowflakes or whatever, Sandler scarcely shows it. Instead of fighting a culture war, he’s dedicated his craftsmanship to becoming astonishingly effective at telling the same dick, poop, and fart jokes he’s been telling for decades—trimming the fat, reforging their elements, until they land with something you could call grace. (It’s no wonder that these punchlines are at their most effective when they’re presented within the confines of a stripped-down stand-up set rather than a bloated ensemble film.) Sandler has checked out of the conversation that has made the consumption of contemporary comedy so litigious and annoying. There is a deftness in all this stupidity.

At the end of Love You, Sandler picks up a guitar and plays a song that functions like a “We Didn’t Start the Fire” for the people who have inspired him throughout his career. He daisy-chains together the names of comedy royalty—Lucille Ball, Sam Kinison, Lorne Michaels, Jim Downey—before eventually landing on the gut punch of the departed Norm Macdonald and Chris Farley. (Sandler performed a different tribute to Farley on a Saturday Night Live stint, which was another crucial component of his reclamation.) In the chorus, Sandler doesn’t sing about comedy’s ability to change the world, or expose grave injustices, or adjudicate political correctness once and for all. No, instead, Sandler asserts that comedy’s most profound social power is how it can make someone feel good, when they were previously feeling sad. It is a radically modest statement in a realm of performers who tend to take themselves a bit too seriously. Maybe we really have changed, after all.

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30 Best Movies On Netflix Right Now (September 2024)

You gotta believe's true story & real-life little league team explained, stephen king’s glowing review makes me excited for this upcoming horror movie.

The final days of August 2024 are bringing more movies for different audiences, and these, along with this month's biggest releases and some of July's most popular ones, are now playing in theaters. After some rough years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 2023 was a big year for cinema, with massive, record-breaking box-office successes and critically acclaimed stories. Luckily, this continues in 2024, which has various highly-anticipated movies coming up, and some of them can currently be enjoyed in theaters.

August brought some exciting movies from different genres, such as M. Night Shyamalan's Trap , Eli Roth's Borderlands adaptation, the latest entry in the Alien franchise , the drama It Ends With Us , a new take on The Crow , and the thriller Blink Twice , among others. Now, closing August and preparing for the spooky season, are a biographical drama about a former US President, a sci-fi thriller, a sci-fi horror movie with a well-known premise, and a family sports drama based on a true story.

From Godzilla Minus One to Under Paris and The Gentlemen, here are our picks for the best movies on Netflix for everyone to enjoy this month.

Reagan was released on August 30, 2024

Reagan (2024)

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Reagan explores Ronald Reagan’s life from his childhood to his time as President of the United States.

Reagan is a biographical drama movie directed by Sean McNamara. Based on the 2006 book The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism , by Paul Kengor, Reagan explores Ronald Reagan’s life from his childhood to his time as President of the United States. Reagan is told through a conversation between former KGB agents Andrew Novikov and Viktor Ivanov , whose lives became linked with Reagan’s after he caught the Soviets’ attention during his time as a Hollywood actor.

Afraid was released on August 30, 2024

Afraid follows Curtis Pike and his family, who are chosen to test a new smart home AI called AIA.

Afraid is a sci-fi horror film written and directed by Chris Weitz. Afraid follows Curtis Pike and his family, who are chosen to test a new smart home AI called AIA. Once it’s all installed at home, AIA learns all the behaviors of the Pile family and begins to actively participate in their needs. However, AIA starts to develop self-awareness, and it becomes a bit too involved in the lives of the Pikes , interfering with their daily activities and more.

8 Slingshot

Slingshot was released on august 30, 2024.

Slingshot (2024)

John finds that their mission might be compromised and he and his crew are in great danger.

Slingshot is a sci-fi psychological thriller by Mikael Håfström. It’s the story of John, an astronaut who wakes up from a hibernation cycle on the spacecraft Odyssey 1. John and his crew are on their way to Saturn’s moon, Titan , on a mission to collect different natural resources, so they have multiple awake/sleep cycles. However, on one of his awakenings, John finds that their mission might be compromised and he and his crew are in great danger, so he struggles to maintain his grip on reality during this chaotic event.

7 You Gotta Believe

You gotta believe was released on august 30, 2024.

You Gotta Believe

You Gotta Believe is a family sports film directed by Ty Roberts. You Gotta Believe is the story of a Little League baseball team of outcasts who dedicate their season to the ailing father of one of their players. The team ends up making it all the way to the 2002 Little League World Series finals, and the game became a record-breaking showdown and an instant ESPN classic.

You Gotta Believe is based on the inspirational true story of an unlikely Little League baseball team from Texas driven to win by a great cause.

The Crow was released on August 23, 2024

The crow (2024).

The Crow follows Eric, a musician who, along with his fiancée Shelly, is brutally murdered by the henchmen of demonic crime lord Vincent Roeg.

The Crow is a superhero movie directed by Rupert Sanders and based on James O’Barr’s 1989 comic book of the same name. The Crow follows Eric, a musician who, along with his fiancée Shelly, is brutally murdered by the henchmen of demonic crime lord Vincent Roeg. Some time later, Eric is brought back to life by a crow, which guides him on his quest to avenge his and Shelly’s deaths , with the chance to save her by sacrificing himself – all this while also giving him some extra powers, such as immediate healing and enhanced strength.

Sanders’ The Crow is not a remake of Alex Proyas’ 1994 movie of the same name starring Brandon Lee. Instead, it’s another adaptation of O’Barr’s comic books.

5 Blink Twice

Blink twice was released on august 23, 2024, blink twice.

Frida and Slater immediately bond, and she becomes infatuated with him, so she agrees to travel with him to his private island for a luxurious party.

Blink Twice is a thriller directed by Zoë Kravitz in her directorial debut. It’s the story of Frida, a cocktail waitress who meets tech billionaire Slater King at a fundraising gala. To her surprise, Frida and Slater immediately bond, and she becomes infatuated with him, so she agrees to travel with him to his private island for a luxurious party. Once there, Frida meets Slater’s friends, but what starts as a great time gradually becomes a nightmare as more and more strange things happen around her, making Frida question her reality .

You can read Screen Rant’s Blink Twice review here.

4 Strange Darling

Strange darling was released on august 23, 2024, strange darling.

Strange Darling takes the audience into a one-night stand that takes a twisted turn.

Strange Darling is a thriller written and directed by JT Mollner. Strange Darling takes the audience into a one-night stand that takes a twisted turn when The Lady asks a simple but important question to her date: “ are you a serial killer? ”. What follows is a cat-and-mouse thriller following what could be the last moments of The Lady and her dangerous date .

Stephen King has only good things to say about Strange Darling, which makes the upcoming horror film even more exciting prior to its release..

3 Alien: Romulus

Alien: romulus was released on august 16, 2024, alien: romulus.

Alien: Romulus follows a group of space colonists who, while scavenging an old space station, come face to face with a horrifying life form.

The Alien franchise continues with Alien: Romulus , the seventh installment in the franchise and a standalone interquel set between 1979’s Alien and 1986’s Aliens . Alien: Romulus follows a group of space colonists who, while scavenging an old space station, come face to face with a horrifying life form in space that has already created chaos and terror for other crews. Alien: Romulus was originally planned to be released on Hulu, but (thankfully) it was granted a theatrical release after entering production.

You can read Screen Rant’s Alien: Romulus review here.

2 It Ends With Us

It ends with us was released on august 9, 2024.

It Ends With Us

Lily and Ryle fall in love, but she soon discovers sides of him that remind her of her parents’ unhealthy relationship.

It Ends With Us is a romantic drama movie directed by Justin Baldoni and based on the 2016 novel of the same name by Colleen Hoover. It’s the story of Lily, who moves to Boston to chase her dreams and meets charming neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid. Lily and Ryle fall in love, but she soon discovers sides of him that remind her of her parents’ unhealthy relationship. To further complicate it, Lily comes across her first love, Atlas , and so she must rely on her inner strength to make a tough decision.

You can read Screen Rant’s It Ends With Us review here.

1 Deadpool & Wolverine

Deadpool & wolverine was released on july 26, 2024, deadpool & wolverine.

Deadpool's peace is interrupted by the Time Variance Authority, who pulls him into a new mission.

The long-awaited MCU debut of The Merc with a Mouth is finally here. Directed by Shawn Levy, Deadpool & Wolverine is set six years after the events of Deadpool 2 , and sees Wade Wilson living a quiet life after leaving his time as Deadpool behind him. His peace is interrupted by the Time Variance Authority, who pulls him into a new mission as his home universe faces an existential threat. This new mission forces Deadpool to join forces with Wolverine , and together, they will change the history of the MCU.

You can read Screen Rant’s Deadpool & Wolverine review here.

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‘Saturday Night’ Review: A Brilliant Ensemble Cast Is Wasted on 109 Minutes of Tedious ‘SNL’ Cosplay

David ehrlich.

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Of course, we know that “SNL” would go on to become one of the longest-running and most famous institutions in the history of television (though it’s funny to think how unintelligible this movie would be to anyone who doesn’t). And yet the ticking clock of Reitman’s film is entirely premised on the idea that “SNL” was so radical and untested that not even Lorne Michaels himself could describe what it was going to be. 

If “Saturday Night” weren’t so blithely solipsistic, perhaps Reitman and co-writer Gil Kenan might’ve clocked the perversity of trying to recapture that energy with such a pre-settled piece of nostalgia porn. Forget in-jokes or fan service, this is a movie so long on cos-play (much of it brilliant) and short on character development (none of it interesting) that it requires a casual knowledge of the show’s lore to understand, let alone to enjoy. 

To that end, the conceit itself — for all of its manufactured frenzy — might be the root cause of the same problems that it serves to underline, as it locks “Saturday Night” into the presets of a high-speed treadmill in a way that denies the movie any chance to blaze its own trail. It’s hard to accept the mind-blowing novelty of a live sketch comedy show in a film whose sole innovation is that it tries to copy “Broadcast News” and “Birdman” at the same time (we can only hope the camera operator got paid by the whip pan). This isn’t “something people haven’t seen before,” this is “nothing people haven’t seen already,” and not only because “SNL” has been so breathlessly mythologized over the last 50 years that most Americans could find our way around Studio 8H with our eyes closed.

The stress of his situation is obvious even before the lights start plummeting onto the stage and network exec David Tebet (a Mephistophelian Willem Dafoe, who half-wants the show to fail for reasons that are poorly explained) begins taunting Michaels with false confidence. And honestly, if my network were in the hands of a 30-year-old kid being played by a 21-year-old actor who looks like he just came straight from his Bar Mitzvah, I would have some reservations as well. 

Moreover, we don’t learn anything about Michaels by the end of “Saturday Night” that would help to abate them. LaBelle is a likable guy, but he’s stranded on screen for almost every second of a movie that tells us exactly nothing about who Michaels is, where he came from, why Dick Ebersol (a winsome and remarkably nuanced Cooper Hoffman) hired him, or what’s going on with his marriage to writer Rosie Shuster (Rachel Sennott). World-famous but not especially well-known, Michaels is as perfect a blank slate for Reitman and Kenan as Mark Zuckerberg was for Aaron Sorkin, but the writers refuse to make him anything more than a soft-voiced Canadian micro-manager. 

In other words, “Saturday Night” has a lot of business in lieu of a story, and there’s so much going on that it quickly starts to feel like nothing. Reitman’s cast is so fantastic that most of them only need a few stray moments to convince us that everyone in the studio is swept up in their own personal dramas (Dylan O’Brien is a major standout as Dan Ackroyd, his performance typical of a film whose flawless imitations still make room for their own unique life force), and that’s no small thing for a movie that offers so few of its cast more than the bare minimum of what they’d need to survive. Not since the Golden Globes have so many great actors been totally wasted at once.

Of course, “SNL” can’t really be the standard here. The show is a pressure-cooker that sometimes pumps out a hot mess, but each of its episodes is a documentary of its own creation, and the fun of watching until the end credits roll is that you get to share in the second-hand relief that it all came together. “Saturday Night” inexplicably seems to measure its own success by the same metric, despite being under more controlled circumstances made for an entirely different medium (even if they did put this thing together mighty fast for a studio movie).

“Saturday Night” premiered at the 2024 Telluride Film Festival . Sony Pictures will release it in theaters on Friday, October 11.

Want to stay up to date on IndieWire’s film  reviews  and critical thoughts?  Subscribe here  to our newly launched newsletter, In Review by David Ehrlich, in which our Chief Film Critic and Head Reviews Editor rounds up the best reviews, streaming picks, and offers some new musings, all only available to subscribers.

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‘The Deliverance’ Review: The Power of Camp Compels Him

Lee Daniels directs Andra Day and Glenn Close in an exorcism tale that includes melodrama along with the scares.

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By Amy Nicholson

The director Lee Daniels frees his actors to exorcise their demons with audacious performances that rank among the most memorable of their careers. (If you’ve yet to see the mischief Nicole Kidman gets up to in “The Paperboy,” you’re in for a hoot.) With “The Deliverance,” a riotously wacky horror flick, Daniels adds actual demons, too, sending his latest troubled heroine, Andra Day, straight over the edge. Day, a Grammy-winning musician, earned a Golden Globe Award and an Oscar nomination for her performance in Daniels’s “ The United States vs. Billie Holiday .” Not only can she sing and act — here, she’s an outrageous scream queen.

Day plays Ebony, a single mother plagued by bills, alcohol addiction and her own violent temper. Her three glum children — Andre (Anthony B. Jenkins), Nate (Caleb McLaughlin) and Shante (Demi Singleton) — have endured years of abuse even before something wicked in their new home urges the tykes to hurt themselves and each other. Adding to the pressure, Ebony’s born-again, floozy mother, Alberta (Glenn Close), has moved in to recover from cancer (and criticize her daughter’s cooking), while a social worker named Cynthia (Mo’Nique) drops by to monitor the kids’ bruises, and, when pushed out the door, hurls as many nasty quips as she gets. When the spooky business starts, Ebony barely notices. She simply slams the basement door and keeps on trucking.

The script by David Coggeshall and Elijah Bynum is a riff on the 2011 case of Latoya Ammons, whose claims that evil spirits had overtaken her family were corroborated by a Department of Child Services case manager, a medic, a police captain and a priest. But “The Deliverance” is driven by Ebony’s struggle to convince anyone to believe her — the pitiless authorities refuse to look past her own flaws. To the audience, however, she deepens into a riveting character study, particularly in one close-up where Ebony agonizes over whether maintaining her truth is worth the terrible personal consequences.

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For its initial 40 plodding minutes, the clumsy thriller “I See You” works very hard to get your attention. A boy, riding his bike through the woods, is yanked into thin air as if he had reached the end of a bungie cord. He soon joins the roster of other missing kids in a small town, where Detective Greg Harper ( Jon Tenney ) is trying to piece clues together (like a green Swiss Army knife) before there are more disappearances.  

On a smaller scale, something even more scandalous is afoot—his wife Jackie ( Helen Hunt ) has recently cheated on him, which comes up in numerous terse exchanges that she has with Greg or their moody teenage son, Conor ( Judah Lewis ). It’s a tense atmosphere, so much that when strange things start to happen they seem like diversions, like when Greg gets locked in a closet chasing the family hamster, or the silverware vanishes from the kitchen drawers. But as loud and in-your-face as these developments are presented, they amount to a shabby collection of Blumhouse-lite scenes that would be a parody if it weren’t so dull.  

This is the work of director Adam Randall , who is more of a poor salesman with this script from Devon Graye  than an inventive storyteller. Randall has a comical bounty of drone shots that swoop around locations and sometimes look they’re going to crash into the Harper house; Philipp Blaubach’s score emphasizes the importance of every one of the script’s ominous visuals, and sounds like a steel mill in space. “I See You” loves to use these components to tease that a supernatural force might be lurking in the shadows, and then abruptly cut—like it does right before wielding its title card. But it doesn’t build promise that Something Scary is happening, so much as pile on a very tedious atmosphere.  

“I See You,” has a shaky dramatic foundation too, as Graye’s script isn’t interested in exploring the affair, so much as using it for blunt conflict between the mother, father, and son. Dialogue doesn’t help give it any nuance, nor do the performances, which are stuck in one-dimensional portrayals of anger or shame. Hunt’s talents are ultimately not applied to this movie’s elements of horror, but instead its undeveloped aggressions on how infidelity could destroy a home.   

This all turns out to be fairly false advertising, and   “I See You” does a disservice to itself by not revealing until midway through what kind of movie it actually is. So I have little problem in clearing up that this is a home invasion story, instead of a supernatural tale. The movie then retraces its bumps in the night from a different perspective, that of two grimy teens, Mindy ( Libe Barer ) and the much more chaotic Alec ( Owen Teague ). They dabble in an illegal activity known as “phrogging,” which is a real term for when criminals stay in a stranger’s home, uninvited, unnoticed. Their POV is first shown through footage they’ve captured on camera, running into the Harper’s upper-middle class home one morning before the garage door closes. A little creepiness settles in, as it harps on the concept of your space being invaded, by people who are just out of your peripherals. It’s a disturbing idea, and also one of the film’s few good ones.  

But even this method of bringing an initially dreamy horror back to your most private spaces becomes clunky and weak, with developments that I won’t spoil. As the mode of “I See You” changes so does the identity of its central monster, but the reveal comes from a heavily manipulated change in POV. Tying everything together with backstory revealed in the last few shots feels gratifying as someone who had to trudge through the first half, but it’s not fulfilling on the story’s aimed terms to be unsettling and tricky. It would be impossible to guess the ending of “I See You” during its tiresome first act, which is something numerous films can’t tout, but the movie uses cheap tricks to earn that kudos. 

Nick Allen is the former Senior Editor at RogerEbert.com and a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association.

• Helen Hunt as Jackie Harper
• Jon Tenney as Greg Harper
• Judah Lewis as Connor Harper
• Owen Teague as Alec
• Libe Barer as Mindy
• Nicole Forester as Mrs. Whitter
• Adam Randall
• Devon Graye
• Jeff Castelluccio

Cinematography

• Philipp Blaubach

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A child has gone missing and a small-town detective must find the kidnappers. But all is not what it seems especially as when somebody or something is lurking in his house. I See You is an eerie thriller with plenty of twists to keep you hooked.

A child has gone missing and lead investigator Greg Harper is on the case. At least that's the premise of  I See You , the horror film that is more thriller than anything else.

However, it quickly becomes clear that there is far more to the story than simply finding the young boy.

The Harper's live in a huge house, but dysfunction in the family is rife. Jackie Harper (Helen Hunt) has had an affair, and the tension is palpable. Her son hates her and her husband is sleeping in the guest room.

But all the while something or somebody is lurking in the house watching the drama unfold. Strange occurrences such as pictures getting removed from their frames, the tv turning on by itself etc…happen every day. But with so much in-fighting, none of them has noticed.

Halfway through  I See You  the narrative changes and we get to watch the story unfold again, this time from another perspective. Essentially the mysteries and puzzles of the first half are answered in the second half.

And this is where the thrills get ramped up. Not everything is as it seems. The twists come thick and fast and as the search for the missing child continues the body count starts to rack up.

I See You Official Trailer

Is I See You Worth Watching?

I don't want to give away any spoilers, so it's tricky to really get into the heart of the film.

But I will say that it really isn't a horror movie. Sure, there are a few jumps and a couple of “I didn't see that coming” moments, but overall it is very much a thriller.

Jon Tenney ( The Best Of Me ) as Greg kept the movie going with a pretty decent performance as a man trying to hold it all together.

However, the rest of the cast didn't have a lot to do. And I'm not sure what happened to Helen Hunt, but her expressionless face was kind of distracting.

That said, the score of the entire film really brought it to life. The creepy music added that nervy vibe that always let you know something was amiss with the family.

From director Adam Randall,  I See You  is an eerie suspenseful movie that was peppered with genuine surprises.

Definitely one to watch if you like the genre.

I See You Movie Cast

Helen Hunt as Jackie Harper, a wife so consumed by family drama she doesn't notice what's happening in her own home

Jon Tenney as Greg Harper, a small town detective trying to solve the case of a missing child

Owen Teague as Alec

Judah Lewis as Connor Harper, Greg's son

Libe Barer as Mindy

Gregory Alan Williams as Spitzky, Harper's partner

Erika Alexander as Lieutenant Moriah Davis

Allison King as Officer Grace Caleb

Adam Kern as Window Repairman

Jeremy Gladen as Tommy Braun

Teri Clark as Mrs. Braun

Nicole Forester as Mrs. Whitter

• Clever Twist Telling The Story In Two Halves
• Eerie And Suspenseful
• Solid Performance From Jon Tenney
• Helen Hunt Was Distracting
• Movie Felt Rushed

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I See You Reviews

A hauntingly good puzzle of a film with twists you won’t see coming.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Jul 23, 2023

In defter hands, a similar story might have some punch but, as is, this amounts to a big yawn.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Mar 31, 2023

There’s some cleverness in its construction that might delight genre enthusiasts, yet a strong mid-section gets tainted by the painfully obvious opening and closing bits.

Full Review | Mar 27, 2023

It could have gone very wrong and, beyond a few conventions and effects, the result is positive. [Full Review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jun 22, 2021

I See You is a completely unpredictable thriller - original, mind-numbing and totally twisted.

Full Review | Jan 2, 2021

I See You is a film to pick up if you're a horror fan, a noir fan, or a thriller fan. It offers up a variety of scares and stories that keeps it pacing and intensity throughout various twists.

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | Sep 16, 2020

I See You's success is due predominantly to the myriad of surprises that crop up within its second half...

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 5, 2020

You can debate if the pieces of the puzzle actually fit in the end, but Adam Randall's sleight of hand direction and William Arcane's haunting score always keep the audience on the edge of their seats.

Full Review | Jun 11, 2020

The director's smartest achievement, however, is the way that he shifts the narrative emphasis around, frequently via plot twists, minor and major.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 11, 2020

It does keep you guessing, however, and despite the odd clunky twist and swivelling point of view, ticks along with admiral confidence.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 7, 2020

If you're craving some thrills, this offers plenty of jump scares, neat visuals and a solid, grounded plot.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | May 19, 2020

It is technically and aesthetically flawless for an indie film delivering a good dose of family drama, crime, mystery and the occasional decent jump scare.

Full Review | Original Score: 7.5/10 | Apr 13, 2020

It's one of those movies where if you think back on it, it might not completely make sense. But man was it a fun watch. Highly recommended for fans of twisty thrillers.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jan 6, 2020

...there's so much atmosphere and tension in the slow roaming camera, punctured by the great sound design and key moments on the soundtrack. Even that frog mask is nightmarish.

Full Review | Dec 30, 2019

A stylish, twisty and eerie crime thriller.

Full Review | Original Score: B- | Dec 14, 2019

I See You takes chances that I wish more films of this budget and style would take. It never lets you quite settle into what you think it is or isn't going to be.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Dec 13, 2019

From clichéd plot devices to the somber score, what starts off feeling amateurish and tiresome becomes a crafty nailbiter.

Full Review | Dec 12, 2019

I See You is an impressive exercise in precision plotting.

Full Review | Dec 9, 2019

What's said about hiding in plain sight cannot be understated, which may be the film's scariest message of all.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 7, 2019

... steers its story in multiple directions with mixed results, although even when its central mystery becomes muddled, the film maintains a suspenseful undercurrent.

Full Review | Dec 6, 2019

Film Review: ‘I See You’

Small-town child disappearances intersect with one family's domestic woes in this eerie, surprising thriller.

By Dennis Harvey

Dennis Harvey

Film Critic

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The fact that it’s a very complicated matter even identifying the “I” and “you” in “I See You” is just a sample of the narrative tricks in this very tricksy thriller. Working from an impressive first produced screenplay by actor Devon Graye, Adam Randall’s film is an eerie suspense exercise that starts out looking like a supernatural tale — one of several viewer presumptions this cleverly engineered narrative eventually pulls the rug out from under. Saban Films opens it on 10 U.S. screens this Friday, while Paramount is handling concurrent home-formats release. Long-term viability as a streaming offering is assured, while the distinctive plotting may well lure offshore remake bids.

Philipp Blaubach’s probing, restless camera charges the very air with unseen menace from the start, as a 10-year-old boy bicycles home through a picturesque small-town, his progress down a forest trail violently curtailed by some invisible barrier or force. That sense of omnipresent malevolence continues even within the comfortable confines of the Harper home, where TV news reports soon note the aforementioned lad as the latest victim in a disturbing series of local child disappearances.

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The atmosphere is already uncomfortable here for other reasons, however: Jackie Harper ( Helen Hunt ) is getting a very cold shoulder from both police-detective husband Greg (Jon Tenney) and teenage son Connor (Judah Lewis) for a transgression we realize after a while is infidelity. She’s very, very sorry, but nobody is in a forgiving mood yet, with Connor particularly incensed. Thus, when a series of odd occurrences commence — an entire drawer of utensils vanishes, family pictures disappear from the wall, etc. — the Harpers assume one another is responsible, or in particular that surly Connor is “acting out.”

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Meanwhile Greg and his colleagues (including Gregory Alan Williams and Erika Alexander) investigate the apparent renewal of youth abductions — which is rendered all the more disturbing for the fact that the person assumed responsible for a string of identical prior kidnappings/murders has been in prison for some time now.

As our suspicions grow that something malignant is stalking the Harpers in their own home, things take a turn with a surprise visit from the old flame (Sam Trammell) Jackie strayed with, and whom she now desperately wishes would go away. His arrival seems to spike the inexplicable domestic phenomena, fast turning one crisis into a worse one. But at around the 45-minute mark, “I See You” abruptly rewinds, replaying previously-seen events from the perspective of new characters played by Owen Teague and Live Barer. We may think their introduction definitively turns this from one kind of story into another. But, in fact, scenarist Graye isn’t finished upending our assumptions yet.

After his narrative strings are finally pulled together in a long, wordless final sequence, you may begin to reflect that the film’s primary separate plot elements aren’t really connected save by happenstance. But the perfect storm their collision creates is handled with such skillful assurance by Randall (“Level Up,” “iBoy”) that the proceedings never seen overly contrived or hyperbolic, as they easily might have. It’s a story with much disturbing content that nonetheless largely avoids explicit violence. Expectations are subverted on other levels as well — for instance, in the way that top-billed Hunt starts out as our primary viewpoint, yet her character gradually grows less and less central to what’s really going on.

Strong performances down the line provide psychological credibility to an astute overall package that manages to eke considerable sinister atmosphere from any number of perfectly pleasant locations in the greater Cleveland, Ohio area. A particular plus is William Arcane’s unsettling score.

Reviewed online, San Francisco, Dec. 3, 2019. (Also in SXSW Film Festival.) MPAA rating: R. Running time: 98 MIN.

• Production: A Saban Films release of a Bankside Films presentation in association with Head Gear Films, Metrol Technology, Kreo Films, Quickfire Films, Zodiac Holdings of a Zodiac Features production. Producer: Matt Waldeck. Executive producers: Ben Hecht, Stephen Kelliher, Phil Hunt, Compton Ross, James Atherton, Jan Pace, Robert Ruggeri, Mark Hamer, Dave McClean, Viviana Zarragoitia, Eric Fischer, Bill Schultz, Jordan Bayer, Matt Leipzig, Chris Sablan.
• Crew: Director: Adam Randall. Screenplay: Devon Graye. Camera (color, widescreen, HD): Philipp Blaubach. Editor: Jeff Castelluccio. Music: William Arcane.
• With: Helen Hunt, Jon Tenney, Judah Lewis, Owen Teague, Libe Barer, Greg Alan Williams, Erika Alexander, Allison King.

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I See You is a beautifully crafted puzzle of a horror movie

And it keeps viewers guessing through the final shot.

By Tasha Robinson

Share this story

Welcome to Cheat Sheet, our breakdown-style reviews of festival films, VR previews, and other special-event releases. This review comes from the 2019 SXSW Interactive Festival.

There’s a striking tradition of kid-disappearance movies where a traumatized parent tries to convince authorities that something has happened to their child, but evidence suggests that there was never a child in the first place. A subset of the “Who’s crazy here?” mystery, which plays with the audience’s sense of reality and understanding of a situation, movies like Bunny Lake is Missing , Flightplan , and The Forgotten rely on the audience to empathize with a protagonist who may be creating a mystery and a crisis where there isn’t one.

The narratively complicated mystery I See You plays with expectations and reality in the same way, but it’s startlingly frank about its child disappearance. In the opening scene, a boy biking through the woods is ripped violently into the air by an unseen hand, disappearing offscreen. It’s a memorable opening gambit and seemingly a declaration of a specific tone and intent for the film. But like so many elements in I See You , it establishes expectations that don’t immediately play out in the expected, familiar ways. Writer Devon Graye and director Adam Randall (of Netflix’s iBoy ) use that eerie image of the flying 10-year-old to hook their audience, but the rest of the film is a much more complicated process of playing out their line, then reeling the audience back in. In this film, nothing is exactly what it seems — except when it is, and the audience just doesn’t have the tools to interpret it yet.

What’s the genre?

Horror movie, thriller, domestic drama, murder mystery, police procedural…  I See You teases its way into a number of different genres, and part of the way writer Devon Graye and director Adam Randall keep audiences guessing is by keeping them guessing on the exact nature of what they’re watching.

What’s it about?

When 10-year-old Justin Whitter disappears into the woods, detective Greg Harper (Jon Tenney) and his partner Spitzky (Gregory Alan Williams) are assigned to investigate. A clue left behind links the boy’s kidnapping to a notorious child murderer Spitzky sent to jail 15 years ago, raising the question of whether he convicted the wrong man or if there’s a copycat killer haunting his town. Meanwhile, his wife Jackie (Helen Hunt) is trying to mend fences with him after having an affair, but their teenage son Connor (Judah Lewis) is acting out against her in increasingly vicious ways.

By the time strange things start happening in their home — mundane objects appearing or disappearing, household electronics spontaneously turning on, a smashed window and a window repairman who saw something unexplained — the audience already has an entire laundry list of possible explanations and suspects, enough to create any number of plausible “The filmmakers want us to think X, but it’s probably actually Y” theories. The actual truth is startling, but more importantly, it’s intriguing — the kind of reveal that opens up possibilities, instead of shutting them down.

What’s it really about?

It’s hard to get deeply into what I See You is getting at without giving too much away, but it’s safe to say that, in part, it’s about how startlingly vulnerable people can be, whether they’re facing malicious intentions they may not even be aware of, the unknown in general, or just their need for other people. Hunt, in particular, delivers a painfully raw performance, as she begs her husband for forgiveness that he meets with cold accusations or tries to keep up a brave appearance in the face of her son’s fury. But Tenney also seems vulnerable as he tries to navigate his wife’s betrayal and his suspicions about her, and Lewis gives a strong portrayal of a boy covering up his grief with aggression. There’s a lot of open need in this movie and not much of it being met.

But the film is also arguably about how easy it is for people to only see their expectations instead of the truth, and to overlook important details while they’re living out their own internal dramas. And it could just as easily be described as exploring the ways past trauma does or doesn’t explain or excuse people’s behavior.

Is it good?

I See You isn’t for everyone. The kind of people who walk into a movie expecting a given experience and get furious when, say, Cloverfield or No Country for Old Men or It Comes at Night don’t play out as they imagined, aren’t going to enjoy this movie. Neither are people who love formulaic dramas and can tolerate trailers that confirm every single story beat in a film. Even certain kinds or horror fans, who expect gobs of gore or numbing terror, may come out of it complaining. I See You is tense but only occasionally terrifying. No one’s going to be spreading Hereditary -style advance word about how it’s the scariest thing ever.

But for people who specifically prize meticulous story-craft and the ability to dodge broad genre clichés, I See You is a rare gift. It’s a tension experience that gives way to a long series of narrative surprises and payoffs, some of which viewers may not even realize they were primed to want until they arrive at the moment. This is a project for fans of Memento or Timecrimes , the kind of intricate puzzle-movies where all the pieces fit together with well-tooled precision.

None of that would matter if the dramatic segment were poorly executed. Instead, I See You dodges clichés equally adroitly in terms of directorial style. The score, by first-time film composer William Arcane, is unconventional and startling. (During one post-screening Q&A at SXSW, the filmmakers discussed how Arcane used unconventional instruments to produce the score, including wire clothes hangers. “I think at one point he said he’d got a bone clarinet, and he’d smashed holes in it, and he was making music out of things like that,” music supervisor Will Quiney said.) The cinematography is subdued but crisp, with an emphasis on artfully lit faces, producing an effect that looks more like a family drama than a supernatural horror movie. And the cast helps keep the tone subdued, yet intense.

But above all, I See You relies on its script, which builds up expectations in order to upend them, then uses its new paradigm to create a new set of anticipations. Every time the audience thinks it understands the games being played and tries to get ahead of the film, the story pulls out a new development, all the way up to the film’s final moments. It’s the kind of mystery that feels impossible to predict, even though all the clues are laid out in plain sight.

What should it be rated?

It could pass for PG. I See You is surprisingly short on graphic violence and completely devoid of nudity or sexual situations. There are some adult themes, but apart from the profanity, there’s startlingly little in this movie that couldn’t have played on-screen in the 1940s or ‘50s, when this particular brand of carefully crafted audience-tease was more common. With relatively few changes, this could have played as a double feature with Alfred Hitchcock’s The Lady Vanishes , another intricate “What’s the truth here?” mystery that rewards viewers for paying close attention.

How can I actually watch it?

I See You is currently seeking American distribution, so there’s no release date yet, but it seems inevitable that it’ll make it to theaters at some point. Just don’t mistake it for the other 2019 release called I See You (about a vlogger who accidentally captures crimes on camera), or 2016’s I See You (a Bollywood romance about a man in love with an apparent ghost), or 2016’s I See You.com (about a teenager who gets rich by filming his family’s bad behavior and streaming it online). In fact, don’t be hugely surprised if this eventually gets released with a more distinctive title.

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‘I See You’ Ending Explained: Helen Hunt’s Twisty Horror Thriller Is Now Streaming on Netflix

Where to stream:.

• I See You (2019)

The 2019 indie horror movie, I See You , is now streaming on Netflix , and quickly rose to the top of Netflix’s trending titles charts. And if you watch the film, you’ll understand why it’s drawn so many viewers in. This movie has everything: Helen Hunt, a creepy mask, crazy plot twists, and—spoiler alert—homeless people secretly living in the attics of rich folks.

Directed by Adam Randall, with a screenplay written by Devon Graye, I See You first premiered at the 2019 SXSW Film Festival, before releasing select theaters in December. The movie was well-liked by critics and horror fans, but for most casual moviegoers, the film flew under the radar. Now it’s finding new life streaming on Netflix, as viewers are uncovering this twisty, turn-y little film.

I See You comes with several major plot twists, and some of them are quite subtle. If you found yourself confused while watching the movie, don’t worry. Decider is here to help. Read on for an analysis of the I See You movie plot and the I See You movie ending, explained. (Spoilers ahead, obvioulsy!)

I See You movie plot explained:

The movie opens with a sequence of 10-year-old Justin Whitter, who is riding his bicycle in the woods. The bike is brought to an abrupt halt, and Justin flies off the back, as if by magic. It’s soon revealed that Justin has been kidnapped. Detectives discover a green pocket knife on the scene where he vanished, which harkens back to a 15-year-old kidnapping case, in which young boys were disappearing and the kidnapper left a green knife as a calling card. However, that case was closed when the kidnapper was caught and put in jail, and two boys were rescued from captivity.

One of the detectives on Justin’s case is Greg Harper (Jon Tenney). Greg lives in a nice house with his wealthy doctor wife, Jackie (Helen Hunt) and their teenage son, Connor (Judah Lewis). Greg and Connor are both pissed at Jackie, because she recently cheated on Greg. Greg is sleeping on the couch, and later the guest room. Conner is being generally horrible to his mom, and, apparently, steals his mother’s sunflower mug and uses it as an ashtray to smoke on the roof. But then weird stuff starts happening to the family. While Jackie is home alone, the TV turns on suddenly without her touching the remote. All of the family’s silverware goes missing. Greg gets lured into his son’s closet, and a mysterious assailant slams the door on him. Someone steals Greg’s covers in the dead of night, and when he wakes up, he finds he’s peed the bed.

Meanwhile, on the missing child case, Greg and his partner, detective Spitzky, go to visit one of the former kidnapping victims, Tommy. Tommy’s face is severely burned, and when he sees Spitzky and Greg, he freaks out. Later, Spitzky discovers a trip wire in the woods, which explains why Justin flew off the back of his bike in the opening scene.

Back at the Harper house, Jackie gets a surprise visit from her lover, Todd (Sam Trammell). While Jackie and Todd are outside arguing, Todd is hit over the head with the sunflower mug. Jackie brings Todd to the basement to fix his head. When she discovers Connor was upstairs the whole time, she assumes Connor is the one who threw the mug at Todd. While Jackie is driving Connor to school, a mysterious assailant takes out Todd from behind. When Jackie gets home, she finds Tom dead on the floor, and assumes he died of the original head injury. She gets Greg to help her hid Todd’s body, not wanting her son to go to jail.

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Meanwhile, Connor gets a strange text on his phone asking him, “Do you know what phrogging is?” Then a man in a creepy frog mask approaches him from behind. When Greg and Jackie get home from burying the body, they find Connor drugged and tied up in the bathtub. Jackie rushes Connor to the hospital, while Greg stays behind to find the attacker.

At this point, the movie abruptly shifts point of view. We are introduced to two new characters, Mindy (Libe Barer) and Alec (Owen Teague). Mindy and Alec are homeless young adults who sneak into the Harper’s house with the intention of squatting there for a few days. They are making a DIY documentary about “phrogging,” which Mindy explains is “hopping from pad to pad,” or squatting in wealthy homes for a week or so at a time, in the same way that frogs leap from place to place. Mindy and Alec set up home base in the guest room, and hide in the attic.

Mindy insists they not bother or interfere with the family’s life in anywhere. But Alec, who bought a creepy frog mask for himself, is interested in “messing” with the family. He steals the silverware, turns on the TV with an app from his phone, and pisses on Greg in the middle of the night. So that explains all of that weirdness! It was also Connor who hit Todd on the head with the mug. After he does that, Mindy insists they leave. She goes downstairs to retrieve their stuff, and accidentally witnesses Todd being attacked. Plot twist alert: Greg is the one who killed Todd, by hitting him in the head with a baseball bat.

After Mindy witnesses Greg gaslight his wife, she finds Alec has taken things way too far: He has drugged Connor and tied him up in the tub. Mindy threatens to call the cops. They get into an argument, and Alec accidentally pushes Mindy down the stairs, knocking her out. Alec loads Mindy’s body into Greg’s car, presumably to drive her to the hospital, but then Greg and Jackie come home. They discover Connor in the tub, and now we’re all caught up.

I See You movie ending explained:

Alec hides, and witnesses Greg drive away, with Mindy unknowingly hidden in the trunk of his car. Mindy wakes up while driving, and discovers a kid’s green jersey and a bag of green knives in the back of the car. Earlier in the film, Mindy read a news story that said the kidnapped boy was last seen wearing a green jersey. Greg stops the car at a remote location in the woods, and Mindy manages to escape. She calls 911 and tells the cops she believes she is with the kidnapper, but then her phone loses signal. She finds a mobile home in the woods, and finds the two missing boys are locked in a bathroom that is zip-tied shut. Before she can free them, Greg confronts her and, once again, knocks her out. (This can’t be good for her brain!)

Alec, who apparently didn’t move from his hiding spot during all of this, witnesses Greg return to the house with an unconscious Mindy. Greg wakes Mindy up, makes her stand up, and then shoots her. He then begins arranging evidence to make it look like there was a struggle. There really is a struggle when Alec attacks Greg. Alec manages to get the better of Greg, and shoots him. The police arrive, and Detective Spitzky bursts in, sees Greg on the ground, and shoots Alec. Before Alec passes out, he recognizes Detective Spitzky, and says his name.

Through a series of quick shots, we realize that not only is Greg the man who kidnapped Justin, he is also the man who kidnapped the two young boys 15 years ago. And not only that, but one of those two boys was Alec. In a flashback sequence, we see Greg approach two young boys on the railroad tracks. One of them has a Pez dispenser in his pocket, a candy we’ve seen the adult Alec eat several times. We see adult Alec’s tortured face as he is put into an ambulance, and with that, the movie ends.

I See You movie ending meaning:

Now that we know Alec was one of Greg’s victims, we realize that he did not choose Greg’s house to “phrog” by accident. Alec’s seemingly erratic behavior toward the Harper family now makes sense—he was looking for revenge on the man who kidnapped and tortured him all those years ago. It’s not clear what Alec’s plan was, but his actions suddenly seem justified, in retrospect.

I think we can all agree the real victim here is Helen Hunt. No wonder she cheated on her psychotic husband!

• Ending Explained

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I See You (II) (2019)

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The Big Picture

• I See You is a thrilling horror film on Netflix that cleverly combines a serial killer investigation with paranormal events at a detective's home.
• The movie takes a surprising turn when it reveals that the haunting in the detective's house is actually the work of a phrogger, someone living in the house without permission.
• The plot twists continue when the phrogger witnesses the detective committing murder and takes matters into their own hands to expose the real serial killer.

Thanks to the power of TikTok, I See You became a sleeper hit when thousands of people caught this 2019 horror film on Netflix . It’s not hard to understand why so many people are fascinated by Adam Randall ’s nerve-wracking dive into the world of phrogging , as I See You does a marvelous job of feeding the audience’s paranoia while constantly subverting expectations. The most surprising is that I See You flew under our radar for four years instead of being praised as one of the best horror releases of 2019 . It’s great to see I See You getting its well-deserved recognition since it dropped on Netflix, but some fans might still wonder how every plot element fits together by the time the credits roll. So, if any of the many plot twists of I See You confused you while you nervously checked every corner of your home for intruders, we break down everything that happened at that disturbing ending.

A policeman and his doctor wife have some marriage problems and the son blames the mother. For his job, the policeman investigates a case of a missing boy. The possible kidnapping looks like some cases from a few years ago.

What Is 'I See You' About?

During the first half of I See You , there seem to be two separate storylines developing side by side. First, the disappearance of a ten-year-old boy leads the police to reopen a closed serial killer case . Many years before the events of I See You , several boys were kidnapped, sexually abused, and brutally murdered. The culprit was brought to justice thanks to Detective Spitzky ( Gregory Alan Williams ) and two boys who managed to escape the villain's clutches. However, while the serial killer is in jail, the clues left behind by the new killer put Spitzky’s work into question – for instance, it’s part of the killer's process to always leave a green pocket knife at the kidnapping scene. So, together with his partner and lead detective, Greg Harper ( Jon Tenney ), Spitzky needs to figure out if the man he put in jail was innocent or if there’s a copycat on the loose.

Parallel to the serial killer investigation, I See You also explores the paranormal events at Detective Greg Harper’s home. His wife, Jackie ( Helen Hunt ), had an affair that now threatens to ruin their family. Jackie is doing what she can to fix the situation, but Harper is deeply wounded. In addition, their son, Connor ( Judah Lewis ), resents his mother and has been acting out. While the family is trying to heal and figure out how to move forward, their house begins to be haunted. Objects go missing, pictures vanish from the framing in the walls, and a bizarre creature with a frog mask can be seen hiding under the bed or lurking in the shadows.

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At first, only Jackie notices these strange events, which leads both Greg and Connor to think she’s trying to avoid dealing with the infidelity issue. However, it’s clear something weird is happening, and once Jackie’s former lover, Todd ( Sam Trammell ), ends up dead in their basement, Greg can no longer deny the mysterious haunting. The detective convinces his wife to hide Todd’s body since she fears Connor is the murderer and loving parents will do anything to keep their children safe, right? At this point of the story, I See You takes an abrupt shift, adding some found footage scenes and flashbacks that completely change the way we understand previous scenes.

Who’s Haunting the House in 'I See You'?

After spending half its runtime slowly amping up the tension, I See You pulls the rug out from under our feet by showing how there’s nothing supernatural happening at the Harper’s house. The movie suddenly shifts its focus to tell the story of Mindy ( Libe Barer ), a phrogging expert doing a documentary about the strange practice of living in other people’s houses without their consent or awareness. Mindy brought Alec ( Owen Teague ) along to the Harpers’ place to have someone to share the experience and to teach a first-time phrogger how to remain undetected. Unfortunately for Mindy, Alec seems to have plans of his own.

While Mindy’s goal is to spend a few days in the Harpers' place, eating their food and finding shelter, Alec seems determined to make the family feel like they are going crazy. Alec is the one who steals cutlery, messes up framed pictures, and even pees in Greg’s bed while the man is asleep. As days pass, Alec becomes bold with his pranks and Mindy desperately tries to control him. At this point, we might think Alec is the one behind Todd’s death, and we can even wonder if the young man is the serial killer copycat. However, I See You still has many tricks up its sleeve .

Who’s the Serial Killer in 'I See You'?

While hiding from the Harpers during the day, Mindy witnesses Greg killing Todd in a fit of jealousy. She decides to warn Alec, only to find her partner tying up an unconscious Connor in the bathtub. Mindy and Alec get into a fight after she threatens to call the police, and Alec accidentally pushes her down the stairs. Mindy hits her head pretty badly, passing out from the trauma. Fearing the consequences of his actions, Alec hides Mindy’s body in the trunk of Greg’s car.

When Mindy wakes up in Greg’s trunk, she finds a plastic bag filled with green pocket knives. She also finds the clothes of one of the missing boys, realizing that Greg is the serial killer. While running away in the woods, Mindy calls the police and asks them to track her location. Finally, she reaches a trailer where Greg is holding two children prisoner. While trying to free them, Mindy falls victim to Greg, who smothers her unconscious. Greg takes Mindy back to his house and shoots her dead to stage a crime that didn’t happen. Alec sees Mindy’s dead body and fights Greg. The detective overpowers the young man and decides to pin the blame for everything on Alec. To make his story real, Greg stabs himself. While the detective is distracted, Alec wakes up and manages to shoot Greg down with his own gun. The serial killer is dead, but I See You still has one more surprise for the audience .

When the police arrive at the Harpers’ place, lured by Mindy’s cellphone signal, Detective Spitzky immediately recognizes Alec. As it turns out, Alec was one of the two boys who escaped Greg many years ago. It’s not by accident that Alec decided to join Mindy in her phrogging experience. Alec knew the wrong man had been arrested and wanted to take revenge on the real serial killer. While the movie doesn’t tell us that, since no serial killer cases were reported since the fake arrest many years before, we can also assume Greg started killing again after his wife cheated on him. Couples counseling probably would have been better..

I See You is available to stream now on Netflix.

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‘i see you’: film review | edinburgh 2019.

Helen Hunt plays the unfaithful wife of Jon Tenney's troubled cop in director Adam Randall's puzzle-driven thriller about murder, abduction and family breakdown, 'I See You.'

By Stephen Dalton

Stephen Dalton

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A twist-heavy crime thriller spiced with horror and noir elements, I See You is such a finely crafted exercise in slow-burn suspense that its loopy plot contortions only seem absurd in retrospect. Headlined by Helen Hunt and Jon Tenney ( True Detective ), British director Adam Randall’s Ohio-shot third feature made its European debut in Edinburgh last month following its world premiere at SXSW in March. With a glossy look that belies its modest budget and slender 20-day shoot, this elevated genre exercise should enjoy healthy festival interest and decent commercial prospects. Saban has signed U.S. theatrical rights, though no release date has yet been fixed.

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I See You opens in vaguely David Lynchian territory as airborne cameras swoop over a small Midwestern town, the air thick with dreamy menace. After a 10-year-old boy disappears on a routine cycle ride through the woods, veteran detective Greg Harper (Tenney) senses some disturbing echoes of similar abductions in the town 15 years before. But the perpetrator in that case was caught and jailed, which suggests either a terrible miscarriage of justice has occurred or a creepy copycat is at work.

The Bottom Line WIld plot twists, stylish visuals and a fine cast.

On returning to his luxurious lakeside home, Greg has more emotional trauma to deal with in the shape of his guilt-wracked wife, Jackie (Hunt), who is working hard to repair their broken marriage after having an affair. The pair’s angry high-schooler son, Connor (Judah Lewis), is resolutely siding with his father in this domestic turf war, creating a poisonous mood at home. In addition, their cavernous house appears to be haunted by strange noises and prowling phantoms, about which Randall keeps us guessing for the first hour. Are these disturbances some kind of supernatural visitation, somebody close to the family playing a sinister prank or even one of Greg’s criminal foes seeking vengeance?

I See You performs an audacious narrative flip midway through, looping back to unlock its opening puzzle by revisiting key events from fresh angles. Without resorting to spoilers, the Harper family problems are further complicated by previously unseen characters, a home-invasion subplot and found-footage elements. Actor turned first-time screenwriter Devon Graye’s tricksy script keeps audiences on their toes with all this multi-viewpoint misdirection, so much so that most will be caught off-guard by further major reveals. A final shock twist pushes dramatic logic to snapping point, but it does at least wrap up the story on a satisfying crescendo of gothic horror.

A seam of melancholy runs through I See You — agonizing marriage breakdowns, happy families built on dark secrets, desperate mothers searching for lost children — which grounds the film in a richer emotional truth than more conventional genre movies. Hunt’s nervy performance as the outwardly unsympathetic Jackie, struggling to remain a dutiful wife and loving mother in the face of bitter recriminations and sinister revelations, is finely rendered.

Randall and his cinematographer Philipp Blaubach do excellent work at building atmosphere with slow, low-prowling cameras and soaring aerial shots, lending their modest indie production the kind of visual pizzazz more akin to bigger-budget studio thrillers. The nonspecific but characterful Ohio setting also brings a pleasing texture of its own, amplifying the Lynchian sense that malign forces lurk even in this sleepy corner of well-heeled heartland suburbia.

Production companies: Bankside Films, Zodiac Pictures Cast: Helen Hunt, Jon Tenney, Judah Lewis, Owen Teague, Libe Barer, Greg Alan Williams, Erika Alexander, Allison King Director: Adam Randall Screenwriter: Devon Graye Producer: Matt Waldeck Cinematographer: Philipp Blaubach Production designer: Carmen Navis Editor: Jeffrey Castelluccio Music: William Arcane Casting director: Nancy Nayor Venue: Edinburgh International Film Festival

96 minutes 

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Netflix Viewers Agree I See You Is A Must-Watch Thriller

While a number of horror movies are set to blow audiences away in 2023 , a forgotten and somewhat revered film from 2019 called "I See You" has managed to cause quite a stir with subscribers on Netflix.

After making its premiere at SXSW, "I See You" was released in theaters in December 2019, and off of a $5 million budget, the movie was only able to gross a dismal $1.1 million at the box office. But despite becoming a flop, the motion picture achieved a solid score on Rotten Tomatoes , even attaining the Certified Fresh Designation. Several outlets like Variety held the thrilling flick in high regard, saying it was "a finely crafted exercise in slow-burn suspense." Unfortunately, the word wasn't able to properly get out regarding all the acclaim it had received. 

But thanks to Netflix, the film has been given a second chance to terrify audiences with a twist-filled tale of marital love affairs, missing children, and a very creepy mask. And after watching the mind-bending scare-fest, fans haven't been shy about letting people know about their haunting experience on social media. One example that puts the hype in perspective is from user @lyssaajj , who posted on Twitter, "'I See You' on Netflix is probably one of the best movies I've seen in a while. My stomach in a knot fr." Another user simply said, "'I See You' on Netflix good asf y'all watch it!" But they weren't the only ones making some noise about "I See You."

Subscibers can't unsee I See You

With so many options on Netflix, finding anything that stands out from the competition and offers viewers a chilling experience they won't forget can be daunting. So when a title garners a certain level of attention, there's a good chance it could be a worthwhile affair, which seems to be the case with "I See You." And from what's being said about the movie, the shocking twists are getting people excited. "Just finished watching 'I See You' on Netflix, and..........wow..... I've never been that stumped on a film before,"  @LifeIsBeautyfl  posted on Twitter. "Incredible twist. Y'all need to watch that s****. Wow."  @_jaquisha  also enjoyed the scary surprises offered in the feature and described the film saying, "'I See You' on Netflix was crazy. I wasn't expecting that plot twist!" But not everyone hyped up the horror aspect of the movie.

Alternatively,  @RobJob76  showed some love to the fact that there is a solid crime thriller story taking place in the movie horror fans can't stop buzzing about, highly recommending it to fans of the genre, saying, "If you're looking for a good crime thriller I'm Netflix 'I See You' is really freakin good."

While it might not be enough to make it onto the list of best crime thrillers or  horror movies of all time , the robust amount of attention it has received from subscribers strongly indicates that "I See You" is a horror thriller worth seeing.

Review: Smartly crafted horror-thriller ‘I See You’ deserves your attention

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It’s too bad that a suspense film as smart and unpredictable as “I See You” is being released so late in the year, at a time when most movie buffs are preoccupied with Oscar contenders. Director Adam Randall and screenwriter Devon Graye have delivered the kind of sly nail-biter that could use a little more open space on the calendar to build up buzz so it can get noticed by fans of imaginative, original horror.

Helen Hunt plays psychologist Jackie Harper, who’s trying to hold her family together even as her son Connor (Judah Lewis) keeps lashing out at her about her recent affair. Meanwhile, Jackie’s embittered, cuckolded cop husband Greg (Jon Tenney) is investigating a child abduction that’s putting their upscale suburban community on edge. Making matters worse, a series of mysterious incidents around the Harper home raises the possibility they’re being haunted.

The second half of “I See You” digs into the possible paranormal activity, via one whopper of a plot twist — best left as a surprise. The kidnapping is eventually explained too, in an ending that ties everything together too neatly.

Still, it’s rare to see a horror film so devoted to intricate plot mechanics and so concerned with driving to a satisfying payoff. Randall and Graye have made a movie largely about a privileged family with a lot to hide. And while the Harpers may deserve whatever is plaguing their house, that doesn’t make it any less terrifying to see the sins of their past come back as a string of dangerous traps, sprung by the filmmakers with clockwork precision.

'I See You'

Rated: R for violence and language Running time: 1 hour, 38 minutes Playing: Laemmle Glendale, Glendale; also available on VOD

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