It may look like a basic home invasion thriller from the description, but there's some interesting sub-text and generally good performances in the film.
I won't rehash the plot details, but to begin the film is definitely worth a watch. It is well-acted, has an interesting mystery element to what is real, good shooting, and a number of interesting details. I like what happens with the woman in the final sequence involving the sheet. The use of positive and negative touching. The designs of the bad guys.
Some technical details are smart too. This is the first film I've ever seen that has someone break a window quietly in a believable way. It's also one of the first lower budget films I've seen that gets technical details of firearms and responsible gun ownership correct (of course, it's evidently a Texas film, so I probably shouldn't be surprised). The flashback reveals are built up, and done well. The editing is solid.
I will add there are some religious elements to the film, a bit involving faith and choices. I'm not religious, but I still feel these elements work well and are part of characterization in a way that I liked. Do I have any complaints? I guess I wish more could have been done to hide the puzzle mats (they basically are inexpensive mats useful to break falls when sparring, if you don't know). That's probably a budget issue more than anything though.
So, why not a higher rating? I think a bit more oomph would have helped, in a way that is kind of hard to describe. Basically, the film feels small, in a way that would have been fine in a shorter movie but not in a 90 minute feature (film feels like it could have worked just as well in half the time, even though it's never boring). Just a little bit more would have been good. Compare it to You're Next, as an example. Very different film despite surface similarities, but You're Next has multiple conflict levels between different characters and successive resolutions of them. This film is basically a single character piece, and there isn't *quite* enough to the character and his conflicts for it to be 100% successful. Maybe a little more development with the wife and kids would have helped, a bit more going on there.
I don't want to be too negative, as I quite liked the film and definitely recommend it.
Good movie.
