‘Intrusion’ punishes those who enter
Netflix
Like “You” was loaded into a computer program that froze but forced us to watch the glitchy result anyway, “Intrusion” botches nearly everything rewarding about domestic tales of secrets and expectations. If you don’t think a movie can be both generic and extremely annoying, um, get excited to learn something, I guess.
In a lead role that just made me constantly think, “The industry has failed Freida Pinto,” the actress (“Slumdog Millionaire”) stars as Meera, a therapist and breast cancer survivor who’s somewhat isolated in a new town and the impressive house her husband, Henry (Logan Marshall-Green of the far superior “The Invitation”), built for them. After a break-in at the house, your mind may shift from “Sleeping with the Enemy” vibes to any number of cheap thrillers like “Fatale” and the recognition that the movie isn’t actually going to explore the challenges for couples coping with the unexpected. Will this be a story about home invasion? Domestic abuse? Infidelity? Hell, pause “Intrusion” for a sec and Netflix will show you a promo for an upcoming movie called “There’s Someone Inside Your House.” Clearly, at a time when it is not entirely safe to be out in the world, we must remember we are not safe at home either!
At least, not when enduring a movie as thin and obvious as “Intrusion,” whose amateur status is confirmed long before the immense lameness of Henry sharing the code to a file cabinet and Meera, out loud, saying, “Our anniversary,” as if a person would actually say “Our anniversary” and not just know it in their minds. But this is a movie that doesn’t understand subtlety or tension, hammering us with an angry score and a performance from Marshall-Green that contains none of the levels that his architect character is supposedly a master at. He’s deeply irritating throughout, and not in the way that is supposed to make us wonder what’s really going on. Pinto, more nuanced in her work, barely manages to generate some investment as she absurdly executes her own investigation of what’s going on, and if her house’s break-in has anything to do with a missing local girl. Cue the discovery of evidence that could’ve been hidden so much better, but then there’d be no movie, about which few would complain.
This is like a novel that gets released exclusively to beach houses and never read, with the script by Chris Sparling unsurprisingly bland considering the one-note focus of his past work (“Buried,” “ATM”). If you want intrusion that will really mess you up, watch “Funny Games.” If you want a streaming option so inept that it’s almost (but still definitely not) funny, watch “Intrusion.”
D+
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