If director Adam Wingard and writer Simon Barrett’s underrated masterpiece The Guest has flown under your radar since it was originally released in 2014, you’re seriously missing out.
The Guest is a psychological thriller starring Dan Stevens (Legion) and Maika Monroe (It Follows). For those that may know Stevens best from his tenure on Downton Abbey, this role was a far and impressive departure from the soft and charming nature of Matthew Crawley (and arguably one of his absolute best roles to date).
Stevens plays the role of a soldier, David Collins, that inserts himself into the lives of the Peterson family after claiming that he was a friend of their dearly departed son, Caleb, who died in Afghanistan. On the surface, David is a charming and polite house guest that wins over most of the family fairly quickly, including siblings Anna (Monroe) and Luke (Brendan Meyer). However, as the film goes on, a darkness begins to creep on the edge of David’s mysterious and alluring nature while strangely coincidental deaths begin to accumulate.
Viewers will find themselves mesmerized by Stevens’ portrayal of David, as it feels that his every movement is calculated, swift, and controlled, while something more sinister lurks just beneath the surface of his penetrating stare.
In addition to a stellar cast, the other two integral pillars of The Guest‘s foundation are its superb cinematography and dreamy soundtrack. It’s the kind of film that you need to watch a few times to appreciate all of the finer details threaded within.
So if you’ve come this far and still have not knocked this must-see off of your To Watch list, you’re in luck. Clear your schedule, because The Guest is now streaming on Netflix in the US (and it’s currently sitting at the #4 spot in the top movies as of today)!
