Beach House

I downloaded this film last night, and just finished watching it. Nice looking beach house, nice looking white people, incredibly nonsensical story....the end.

I realize that it could have been faster, but they were building suspense. I enjoyed it. It felt slow at the beginning, and it picked up just in time.

I believe this movie was based on a book, so it only had so much to work with (and sometimes stories are fine in to read but just don't have enough substance for a movie.) I could tell exactly what was going to happen every step of the way...when the visitor comes to the house, the camera goes right over to the college age daughter to show her interest....you know something is going to happen between the two. Anyway, the movie is slow to unfold but it finally does toward the end. No real surprises. I think they were trying to draw a parallel between the Paul character and the daughter. They weren't so different after all. That's about all I walked away with.

Good idea, acceptable performances, boring development. I could have been better.

An affluent couple from Manhattan and their literary major daughter (Willa Fitzgerald) enjoy a getaway to the Hamptons when the mother invites an old flame out to their beach house, a charismatic edgy artist (Murray Bartlett). What could possibly go wrong?

"Beach House" (2018) is a slow-burn Hitchcockian drama/thriller in the mold of "Swimming Pool" (2003) mixed with elements of "Last Summer" (1969) and "Something's Gotta Give" (2003). The difference is that it's an Indie with a miniscule budget, which can be observed in the opening scene/credits. Thankfully, it scores high on the writing/acting front, which is where any flick of this genre stands or falls.

Speaking of which, the script well chronicles the social intricacies of affluent leisure augmented by the too young woman/older man element and noir-style suspense. It's a movie for those who appreciate quality drama that slowly builds rather than those who require an explosion every five minutes.

While Willa Fitzgerald looks 18, she was 26 during shooting and effective in the role. Writer/Director Jason Saltiel knows how to tastefully capture women on camera without being sleazy.

The film runs 1 hour, 27 minutes, and was shot at a beach house at the far end of Long Island in Amagansett.

GRADE: B.