The Terror Room

Not bad. Some suspense and some plot holes. Overall entertaining, but the amount of 10 ratings is laughable. We're not talking the next Shawshank here. The Daily Wire homers giving it (10's) or the hater's that give it a (1 ) is ridiculous. I'm pretty sure it's neither the greatest or the worst movie these reviewers have seen.

My wife and I found the movie a bit tedious and boring. From the Rotten Tomatoes scores I expected something a few notches higher. It was a well-made film with good acting but at the end of the day the pacing was a bit tedious, it lacked suspense in obvious places where suspense could have been heightened (not knowing what was taking place with the children), and mostly it was just a bit flat. The over-use of themes like the main character staring at the Bible and staring at the cross felt out of place and forced, like I was watching a Christian film that somehow had to let you know it was a Christian film. It was also the type of movie where you find yourself saying... "Why didn't she do this? Why didn't she do that?" This type of frustration builds for the viewer as you begin to disconnect more and more from being sucked in my the movie, finding yourself on the outside looking in at a film and wondering why the director couldn't see it from an audience's viewpoint. Near the end, we laughed several times. Here's an example of why. The lead character couldn't get out of the pantry early on before it was boarded. Yes, at the end she busted through and upstairs door like she was John Wayne coming to kick some serious tail. It was a head-smacker of a moment.

When a young mother called Jessica Nash (Rainey Qualley) is barricaded inside a pantry by her violent ex-boyfriend (Jake Horowitz) , she must use intelligence and cunning to protect her two small children from a dangerous drug dealer (Vincent Gallo) while finding a getaway .

This freaky and thrilling film chronicles fear ,desperation, suffering of a woman locked into a pantry while escalating danger and facing off a completely Kafkaesque situation . In spite of its claustrophobic premise this ¨Shut in¨results to be a nail-biting film in which the locked starring quest to find answers and solutions to defend herself from an evil attacker and getting freedom.

This is one of many films that take place in interior spaces , here there's also a dangerously premise with strangers closed attempting to find an exit to exasperating situations and in which a protagonist is relentlessly locked up and cannot get out and is usually surrounded by dangers, this sub-genre includes films as ¨Buried¨ by Rodrigo Cortés , ¨The Hole¨ by Nick Hamn , ¨Meandre¨ by Mathie Turi ,¨Fermat's room¨ , ¨Deathwatch¨ and ¨The Bunker¨, among others . These films are set in improbable and claustrophobic places where the unfortunate protagonists suffer all kinds of hardships, fighting against all sorts of problems and dire difficulties in order to regain their freedom. The picture succeeds partially because the thriller, tension , as well as a well written script delving into the human psyche in such extreme situation and our instinctive urges for survival . Despite low budget the picture manages to be intelligent, intriguing and thrilling.

It displays an appropriate and dark cinematography by cameraman Akis Konstantakopoulos . As well as atmospheric and suspenseful musical score by composers Mondo Boys . This moving picture professionally directed by D. J. Caruso , but nothing special . He is a good craftsman whose films often have intense car crashes , and he has directed successful films , such as : Taking lives (2004) , Disturbia (2007), The Eagle eye (2008) , XXX Reactivated (2017), Reediming love (2022) and Shut in (2022) . Rating : 5.5/10 . Acceptable and passable , but neither notable ,not extraordinary , but decently made .

Good little low budget thriller that took a while to get going, but when it did, it was tense and reminded me of Panic Room a little.

Acting and direction are good and the symbolism is excellent.

I don't get the rampant love or hate for the movie. Why can't people just judge it for what it is?

This film has a great main character but the situations she's put in are what truly make this film what it is. You'll be on the edge of your seat for almost the entire film because the stakes are so high while still feeling realistic. Although the religious aspects of this film worked for the most part it did border on preachy on occasion.