Static comes to us from a completely unknown source by way of Todd Levin, this being his directorial debut, he also was one of three people credited for the screenplay. For a first effort it was a promising start, of course having an experienced cast in Milo Ventimiglia & Sarah Shahi to work with certainly didn't hurt. The film had very good cinematography and sound that worked to create a tense, creepy atmosphere quite early into the film.
The film relies heavily on the acting of Ventimiglia & Shahi who play Addie & Jonathan, a grieving couple who recently lost their beloved son Thomas to an accidental drowning death a short time ago. Not far into the film, in the dead of night, they are awoken by a hard knock on the door. It is here we meet a desperate woman named Rachel(Sara Paxton) who claims that while tending to a flat tire, someone had attacked her and was still in pursuit, but when Jonathan goes out to look he can see no one, but just to be safe the couple agrees to let her stay the night. It is at this point that strange happenings begin to occur and we are left guessing where exactly the danger lies. The first half of the film closely resembles The Strangers(2008), but there is more than meets the eye as the details slowly bubble to the surface and the story takes a hard turn in a new direction.
The plot does consist of familiar ideas, things we have witnessed before in other films, but the film presents them in an intriguing way, making for an entertaining thriller. It had great atmosphere, good tension and fine performances by the film's lead characters, they both held my attention well throughout the film. The ending was a bit frustrating, as I'm sure some will agree, but was still an acceptable answer to all of the mystery & motives. Not a bad way to spend 80 minutes.
