SummaryAfter multiple dirty bombs are detonated, spreading deadly toxic ash across Los Angeles, Brad inadvertently quarantines his wife, Lexi, outside their new home by safely sealing himself inside. With the city under siege and martial law in affect, Brad and Lexi struggle to survive with little supply, limited time, and no information--all t...
SummaryAfter multiple dirty bombs are detonated, spreading deadly toxic ash across Los Angeles, Brad inadvertently quarantines his wife, Lexi, outside their new home by safely sealing himself inside. With the city under siege and martial law in affect, Brad and Lexi struggle to survive with little supply, limited time, and no information--all t...
There are no zombies to distract from the plausibility of Right at Your Door. And that's what makes this smart, coolly horrifying American indie thriller one of the scariest movies you're likely to see all year — a post-9/11 nightmare about terrorism, panic, and paranoia with real, waking-life implications.
While this is admittedly not lighthearted mainstream fare, the subject matter is interesting and is handled in a manner that offers a compelling and sometimes unsettling 95 minutes.
A great low budget thriller that derives most of its suspense from the realistic portrayal of a biological attack on post 9/11 America. Fails to maintain a flowing plot and looses focus in the middle but is a strong showing for this low budget film.
If you like drama with a decent sci fi premise, good acting, directing, and dialogue, and do not mind a sparse, stage like but solid production, watch this movie. The story is primarily about two people who are close and familiar, (maybe too much so), and how the effect of a major catastrophic event affects their lives and relationship with each other. There is nothing new or unusual here. But it is the telling of the story, and the characters, that make this movie compelling.
I was reminded of Romero's "The Crazies" and "Night (and "Dawn") of the Living Dead", as well as "The Thing", "Blindness", "Quarantine", and the superior and little known Indie film "Last Night". Also, to a lesser extent, I was reminded of "The Andromeda Strain" and "Outbreak", with just a a whiff of, (strangely enough), "Kramer versus Kramer". Depending on your perspective, these movies share a sense of dislocation for the characters from their familiar, comfortable, ordinary day to day realities due to special events beyond their control. These are movies where people as groups and/or as individuals are separated from each other by choice or by force, while the "humanity" the justification and the "reasoning" for these separations can be considered from an objective outsider as arbitrary, primal level, survival instinct. None, or all, of these movies mentioned adequately represent this movie. They each stand, or fall, on their own merits. And each has it's own distinct direction, dialogue, faults, flaws, and recommendations.
The lead actors were familiar without being famous, which allowed for more personalized interpretation of the characters by the director and actors. This helped to provide a stage like experience on film with out looking like a stage play refilmed. The suspense for the most part is maintained with effective if uninspired use of camera angles, better than average dialogue between the two lead characters, and the clever use of the contradiction between what is really happening to the characters and what is being broadcast on the radio and TV news stations. This helped to make up for lack of effects and multi camera shots. edits and limited scene changes. Therefore the movie is a bit claustrophobic, and considering the scenario, that is appropriate. The introduction of other actors both on and off screen playing small parts are effective plot devices and reveal the effectiveness of the news on fooling both the victims and the unaffected population. The news reports misinformation, rumors and out right lies as fact, and the gullible population, like mice in a maze, are willingly lured into a sense of comfort and away from mass hysteria. At one point the truth of what is being witnessed is denied by the victims themselves in favor of accepting the more positive, if obviously inaccurate, news reports. When do we stop being human and start to become "news zombies" controlled by the media? In less deft hands this movie could have sunk to a stereotypical hackneyed overly political sub par soap opera. The viewer is presented with the situations, and is for the most part left to decide on the political, personal, philosophical reasons and blame for the incidents and the actions of the characters.
McCormack and Cochrane can't transcend the clichéd, meandering dialogue, so Brad and Lexi's dilemma never feels like anything but a didactic contrivance.
The characters devolve into boring narcissists. And the movie devolves into a broad-brush dark satire of emergency bureaucracy that feels a lot sillier than the post-9/11 panic attack of the first half-hour.
The film is low budget but puffed with self-importance, and it offers proof that Hollywood filmmakers should probably steer clear of topics that actually matter.
I was pleasantly surprised. This is not the same as other toxic explosion movies such as Threads (1984), The Day After (1983) and the less memorable Testament (1983). This movie is harder to relate to and did not scare me in the same way. It focuses much more on a close relationship between a couple caught up in a fictional terrorist attack. It is much less about total destructive paranoia and more intimate. The movie is very well made. It looks very believable. The way that the movie has been made feels honest. The relationship is gripping from start to finish.
A Pandemic-Style Thriller More Tedious Than Terrifying.
"Right At Your Door" is a sci-fi chiller that attempts to transform a "Dirty Bomb" attack on an American city into a tension-filled thriller. Unfortunately, what we get is more of a tedious exploration of the annoying quirks of human behaviour, showcased through the husband and wife duo. The writers seem to mistake incessant arguing for character development. Though their bickering may hit close to reality, it quickly becomes an unbearable symphony of selfishness that does little to propel the story forward. If anything, it only makes the audience prey for the wife's speedy disappearance. Sadly, her continuing presence is necessary for the film's twist, which, to its credit, is the script's saving grace.
The movie's tempo manages to draw eyes back to the screen periodically. Lamentably, the shaky camera technique, reminiscent of the Blair Witch era, feels more like an odeous distraction than a stylistic choice. The direction, while competent, lacks the innovation needed to elevate "Right At Your Door" above its pitfalls, offering a mere handful of outstanding shots.
The performances are lacklustre, with portrayals that barely rise above mediocrity. The only saving grace is the neighbour who sneaks into the house, a persona with potential depth that the film never bothers to explore. This lack of connection with all the characters becomes a glaring issue when the twist finally arrives: A twist that should leave the audience shocked and emotive falls flat due to the poor writing and the film's failure to make us care about the individuals involved.
While the movie possesses a few commendable scenes, they are too sparse to justify sitting through this forgettable movie. Unless you're an Olympic-trained professional in the creative art of shouting arguments, "Right At Your Door" might not be the pandemic-themed thriller worth your precious time. Consider exploring other films in the genre, keeping in mind that some might be worse than this semi-stinker; therefore, I recommend choosing your cinematic contagion carefully.
The characters are so bloody awful and pathetic, that you really couldn't care less about what happens to them. This is especially true for the "male" half of the couple we experience this slog of an apocalyptic "thriller" with. The guy is a perfect example of a beta male. He'd rather watch his own wife die outside their make-shift sealed home, than let her in to spend their last moments together. Narcissism reigns, as this wimpy husband can only cry and whine his way through their plight.