Dakota Fanning stars in Paramount Pictures' "VICIOUS."
Courtney Howard // Film Critic
VICIOUS
Rated R, 1 hour and 42 minutes
Directed by: Bryan Bertino
Starring: Dakota Fanning, Kathryn Hunter, Mary McCormack, Rachel Blanchard, Devyn Nekoda, Klea Scott, Emily Mitchell, Drew Moore, Michael Abbott Jr.
For better and worse, VICIOUS is reminiscent of Richard Kelly’s THE BOX, a moral psycho-thriller based on Richard Matheson’s short story, “Button, Button.” All are centered on a small wooden box of mysterious origins showing up to wreak havoc on strangers’ lives, forcing them to make gut-wrenching decisions. However, similar to Kelly’s problems adapting his source material, filmmaker Bryan Bertino’s original tale also encounters its fair share of scary snafus specifically faltering in its finale when it should be closing in for the kill. Though its creepy atmosphere is accompanied by a tactile sense of isolation, the muddled last act feels like a letdown rather than a gut-punch.
When we first meet Polly (Dakota Fanning) during the in media res opener, she’s baring her soul to an unseen someone and getting honest with herself. We then flash back to the dark, snowy evening when she has a life-changing encounter. Settling in for the night, putting away groceries, listening to voicemails from her concerned mother (Mary McCormack) and overbearing sister (Rachel Blanchard) and figuring out what to wear for her college re-entry interview the following day, Polly gets a knock on her door. A disoriented, elderly woman (Kathryn Hunter) is on the other side holding a suitcase and looking for the homeowner she once knew. Polly, seeing the lady’s distress, invites her inside for shelter and a cup of tea.
Yet Polly’s kind act is about to backfire on her. The woman sets a mysterious wooden box on Polly’s coffee table, pulls out an hourglass, and tells her, “You’re going to die tonight.” She also shares the box has powers and warns her not to seek help from outside sources. Polly kicks her guest out, leaving the box in the middle of the street. Though she thinks that’s the end, it’s not. The box reappears and demonic spirits begin taunting and terrorizing her, telling her she must do 3 things: Put something she hates, something she needs and something she loves inside the box. A night of pure Hell awaits Polly, leading her to search her soul for answers about how to navigate and survive this madness.
In terms of the subject matter and connective thematic ties, VICIOUS plays complementary to Bertino’s previous haunting home invasion horrors centered on letting the boogeyman inside (pristine, unassailable classics THE STRANGERS and THE DARK AND THE WICKED). His stories teach us that life throws punishing, traumatic and seemingly unwinnable situations at you regardless if you’re stable, broken or currently in-repair. They’re about hopeless, unrelenting grief entering through emotional vulnerabilities and the underlying complexities of kindness. Here, he exhibits a swift, lean economy of time within the starting minutes, immersing us into his protagonist’s psyche and the propulsive narrative drive. And his practical effects scares are freaky and wincingly bloody. While the rules of the world could’ve been fleshed out a little more, they’re fairly understandable, even when they inevitably shift as the physical stakes raise for the heroine.
However, at the mid-point of the 2nd act Bertino begins to hold back on delivering more uncompromisingly dark, R-rated scenarios when the inroads to have done so have been clearly laid out – creative choices that would lead us to a daringly bleak outcome. Whatever the filmmaker intended turns into a muddled mess by the end. Loose logic is applied to Polly’s attempts at finding a lifeline, as she desperately calls upon help from neighbors like the harried married woman next door (Klea Scott) and Tara (Devyn Nekoda), a young lady visiting her parents for the holidays. Things conclude with a wimpy, semi-incomprehensible climax rather than a definitive, depressing one like it should contain.
Unlike the aforementioned films in his oeuvre, VICIOUS is noticeably missing the all-encompassing futility within his protagonists’ actions. Context clues point to the fact that our heroine’s toughest challenge will be sacrificing her cute-as-a-button niece Aly (Emily Mitchell) as her “something she loves.” But there’s surprisingly scarce amounts of tension to be found there, as when the niece is placed in the direct danger of Polly’s psychotic break, the suspenseful circumstances are fumbled. There are other creative choices that could’ve satisfied the audience’s need for a harrowing sequence (like having Aly spend the night at Polly’s while her vexing push-pull was happening), but those are eschewed for less risky conclusions.
Fanning gives the character rootable interest. She instills her with an innate wisdom and dynamic fortitude, bringing to light Polly’s hidden facets of strength, smarts and reserves of compassion. She conjures audience empathy as our avatar facing these nightmares. We wince in pain at her provocations. The actress taps into a range of color in her performance, from the sadness dwelling in her soul and the devilish sprite her perverted self-reflection unearths to the strong façade she fronts to the world. She carries the lion’s share of the film on her back, soaring solo.
Perhaps another script pass would’ve brought the written material up to Bertino’s normal spectacular level of snuff. But the compromises here are glaring. And that feels more brutal a blow than the film itself.
Grade: C-
VICIOUS streams on Paramount+ on October 10.
