So, I've heard the hype. I read the reviews, which I don't normally do because I don't really care what other people think about a movie. The reviews were good. The people seemed to like this one. I'm not sure why. Yes, it had its moments of WTF but it was uncomfortable and awkward for me. The overly friendly demeanor is supposed to be part of the plot, I get that, but the awkwardly semi racist comments didn't seem to fit with the overall storyline. I think the same story could have been told without them.
"I know Tiger."
"Being black is on an upward trend."
WTF? I get that they are using young healthy African American men for this procedure, but if you are putting your Caucasian consciousness into a healthy young man, why would you say things that you know are going to upset or offend them? These are supposed to be smart, rich, upwardly mobile people. It didn't fit.
IMDB says - A young African American visits his white girlfriend's parents for the weekend, where his simmering uneasiness about their reception of him eventually reaches a boiling point.
Not much to go on, I know. So, I will give you the story outline as well.
Chris and his girlfriend Rose go upstate to visit her parents for the weekend. At first, Chris reads the family's overly accommodating behavior as nervous attempts to deal with their daughter's interracial relationship, but as the weekend progresses, a series of increasingly disturbing discoveries lead him to a truth that he never could have imagined.
Now the premise was a decent one. Played out, but decent. Take the conscious mind from one body and put it into a better body. No fuss no muss, bingo bango Bob is now your uncle.
I started to feel uncomfortable during the dinner scene, that is where the real awkwardness begins. Up to this point it is just mediocre acting. Rose is trying to hard to be affectionate. Chris is supposed to be a smoker but if they had done any research or just even talked to a smoker, they would have been able to get the urges, the cravings and the need down a bit better than what they portrayed. Who smokes in a car with a nonsmoker unless it's your own car and you are the smoker? Still, most smokers would ask if the nonsmoker would mind, not just spark up. The need to sneak away and light up would be foremost in their mind, looking for a moment to escape. And to not have that cigarette after the scare outside at night just made that whole scenario unbelievable. As an ex-smoker trust me, if he was trying to quit, he would be looking for places to sneak off too, he would be jonesing.
Now, the weirdness of the hypnosis. We get that the shrink uses a focal point, the teacup, but she tells Chris about it, you would think, someone opposed to it, would pick up on that. No one is THAT suggestable, but I guess for the sake of the movie Chris had to be very feeble minded.
Until he wasn't.
I can't put a finger on the moment or the character that made me so uncomfortable, but it was a strong feeling. The brother was definitely a contributing factor. I almost turned it off, but I do like to torture myself.
I don't see how it rated as high as it did. Like I said, it had its freaky moments, like the hypnosis, it plays on an age-old fear. There is a jump scare here or there, but it isn't something I would label as 'Essential Horror'. Which it was. It was ok at best.
At best, it was semi entertaining and I give it a 4/10.