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You Should Have Left (Movie Review)

In this psychological thriller from Blumhouse Productions and legendary screenwriter David Koepp (Jurassic Park, Mission: Impossible, Panic Room), Kevin Bacon and Amanda Seyfried star as a couple seeking a restful vacation in a remote home in the Welsh countryside. What at first seems like a perfect retreat distorts into a terrifying nightmare when reality begins to unravel, dark episodes from the past resurface, and a sinister force in the house refuses to let them leave.

 

You Should Have Left is the new psychological horror film from writer-director David Koepp and Kevin Bacon. Theo (Bacon) and his young wife Susanna (Amanda Seyfried) decide they need some rest and relaxation, so they bring along Theo’s daughter, Ella (Avery Essex), to the quiet Welsh countryside. The part that makes me chuckle about the rest and relaxation is that Theo is a former banker (former as in he no longer works) and Susanna is a popular up and coming actress. Theo has a daughter from a previous marriage and seems to have hit the lottery of life.

 

 

Susanna goes on a popular website that advertises an awesome country home that’s perfect for the family. It promises great views and a peaceful ambience. This peaceful ambience is rocked to its core when strange occurrences begin to take hold of the new inhabitants of the home. Loss of time, shadowy figures moving about in the darkness, and rooms that seem to be in abundance in a home that does not look as big from the outside as it is in the inside.

I was really looking forward to You Should Have Left because it brought Koepp and Bacon together again after 20-years. Their last collaboration was back in 1999 with the awesome Stir of Echoes. In fact, I prefer Stir of Echoes over The Sixth Sense any day of the week, but I digress. You Should Have Left seems to operate on a much lower less expansive budget. The majority of the film takes place inside the home, with only a few jaunts in the outside world.

 

 

The film is above average in that the “meat and potatoes” middle part of the film could have used some tightening up. I think the beginning and final act mesh a bit better. The familial unit also plays well in that on the surface, everyone seems to be part of that “perfect” family until the house brings out the worse in everyone, especially Theo – as if it were trying to tell him something.

 

 

You Should Have Left was meant for a theatrical release but with all that’s going on in the world, got the VOD, DVD, and Digital HD release option instead. I had fun with the film and think that since it’s now on Digital HD, folks can experience this new take on the hell house for themselves in the comfort of their own homes. While the film is not better than Stir of Echoes, it is a welcome sight to see Koepp and Bacon back together again. You Should Have Left is recommended.

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You Should Have Left is available via Digital HD!

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