Shut In

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 .

I was actually very impressed with DJ Caruso's cinematography and how he was able to make great use of the very small location.

About 50-60% of this film takes place in a pantry, with the rest happening in the surrounding single house, yet it never feels like Caruso uses the same camera angle twice. The perspective is constantly shifting, and it makes this location feel bigger and this story feel more eventful than they are on paper.

So, I never felt bored. The script gives Jessica just enough to do and just enough to say so that we can really understand her as a character and get to know her goals and her thought process.

But the script also tries to give her a redemption arc, and these are unfortunately the parts that came across as really cheesy to me. Whenever the film focused on this, the dialogue was very forced.

The ending also leaves something to be desired. It goes from gritty thriller to corny fairytale ending and it was kind of laughable.

Still, I'm impressed that The Daily Wire made something apolitical and competently helmed. Props to them!

This was a solid movie and had a great message.

I'll be honest, with the subject matter - it was tough to watch. I was anxious and on edge throughout the film - a mother locked in a pantry unable to protect her children from the predator on the other side of the door. Super stressful but had a very satisfying conclusion.

I will say that I'm not a huge fan of the movies where the majority of the action takes place "in one room" or "in a car" - those movies never really appeal to me and tend to feel like they quickly lose steam and drag on.

While I did feel, at times, that the pacing of this movie was less than ideal - the acting was superb across the board. Really surprised by the acting chops of Rainey Qualle and also pleasantly surprised that they got a really good child actress to who played the daughter in this film. With many kid actors you can tell they are exactly that... a kid that is acting... but here Lucianna VanDette is so comfortable and natural with her acting (and props to the director in this regard) that you really buy in - you aren't watching an act - you're watching a mother and daughter.

Good acting across the board.

I definitely recommend that you watch the movie if you have the chance.

Great work by the Daily Wire & I'm excited to see what they bring us in the future (Terror on the Prarie on June 9th in particular!)

Worth a watch and good acting. You are routing for her the whole time. A good storyline almost believable. The lead lady is a very good actor but i cant really remmebr seeing her in anything else.

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.