Don’t Move Movie Review (2024)
A rough thriller about a kidnapped and drugged woman that has no palpable tension, Don’t Move wastes the potential that it had.
Remember last week when I was saying that Netflix pumps out movies? Some are better than others and you can never be quite sure until you get into them how it’s going to go? Well, this one has been on my list since last year, and I’m frustrated that it ended up being what it did.
Don’t Move is about Iris, a woman who lost her son in an accident and intends to kill herself. While hovering at a cliff, a random man (Richard) begins trying to give her enough hope to step back and make a different choice. When she does, she quickly realizes that he is a predator, and he kidnaps and drugs her so that she can’t move. The rest of the story is the fight for her survival.
In theory, this could have been a really good film. The premise is interesting, although not unlike many other movies, and with the right script, score, actors, and direction, it could have been something of quality. Unfortunately, it isn’t.
Right from the beginning, the script feels elementary. It’s as if someone wrote a first draft and it quickly got passed along to approval without any edits. The dialogue feels canned and unnatural – and that happens right from the beginning, at the ledge. There are moments that feel more relaxed and realistic (in dialogue), but they are hit or miss.
Another major issue is that you never connect with any of the characters. There isn’t enough time or back story to feel for Iris, so instead, you just hope that this woman won’t die because death would suck – not because Iris is special to you in any particular way.
The serial killer aspect also feels extremely clunky. There are lines like, “You all say the same things” when she is fighting for her life, but it’s not suave or menacing. He is annoyed and so are you.
The score is a bit of a highlight here, as there are well chosen moments and pieces that help to build any figurative tension, but you don’t feel heightened with it. I felt almost nothing, actually, other than one moment when Richard uses Iris’ son’s death against her. But then the moment was gone, and so was my investment.
The timeline feels odd too. At the beginning of the film, there is a comment about it being so early that the bears aren’t awake yet. I could be wrong, but the lighting feels as if the sun is higher in the sky than that. During the same day, but now in the last half hour of the movie, there’s a discussion about someone being drunk, and the officer asks, at this time of the morning? What time is it?? How long is this day and is the sun still in our universe or?
Don’t Move is a very basic and seemingly thrown-together film that isn’t a great time. Billed as having been produced by Sam Raimi (i.e. the Spider-Man films), that makes it even more disappointing because I had hope. But really, my last thought is for Richard, the predator. You really need to watch more Dateline. You’re leaving evidence all over the place.
Runtime: 92 minutes
Motion Picture Rating: R
Languages Spoken In The Film: English
Should You Watch It? No
Did I Cry? Nope
My Rating: 2/5 Stars
Available: Free on Netflix
