The Guest (2014)

You may think you’re walking into a family drama picture with the opening shot of the film. However, before the first act is over, the action has ramped up, and you’re waiting for the next surprise that the titular guest has brought to the Peterson family. The Guest, directed by Adam Wingard and released in 2014, continues the trend of retro 80’s-influenced thrillers that seemed to drop around 2011 and has remained popular on to the present of 2020.

That opening shot is of grief-stricken matriarch Laura Peterson (Sheila Kelley) staring at a photo of her fallen son Caleb. The guest, supposedly a former soldier who served with her son overseas, arrives to pay his respects to the family. But is he all that he says he is? This mysterious visitor, who goes by the name David, is played by Dan Stevens, a man known at the time more for his roles in Downton Abbey and other period British dramas than as a standard action star. He is the principal draw for the film. Stevens is able to portray multiple sides of the character. Most times he exudes a quiet, gentlemanly country boy charm.  However, even before he is finally unleashed, you can sense a simmering menace beneath the surface. However, after all is done, you still can’t hate him.

The cast is rounded out by the rather inconsequential father Spencer (Leland Orser) and the two children, Anna (Maika Monroe) and Luke (Brendan Meyer). Luke is an interesting character in that he initially takes after the father, seemingly ready to be bullied and trampled over by others. However, he becomes a bit more proactive as David serves as a mentor, almost becoming like a father-figure. It’s a shame his film roles have been scanty since, but I am glad that he had a role in the recent Color Out of Space. Maika Monroe, however, is an actor who has made a weightier presence in both indie and mainstream films since taking this role. Here she plays the angsty young adult heading nowhere; When not working a dead-end job, Anna is spending her free time hanging out with a sketchy crowd. She’s consistently the most skeptical of David’s claims and is the audience’s principal protagonist. However, her street smarts won’t prevent the growing upheaval that results from the entry of David into her and her associates’ lives.

What’s the upheaval? That’s the secret. Let’s just say it combines a number of tropes of 80s genre film: clandestine government programs, military ops, the mystery of an inexorable force being let loose on small-town America, and the final survivors making a climatic stand among a colorful backdrop. The end or is it?

What truly keeps the story moving besides the revealing mystery is the music. It features a combination of 80s gothic bands, modernized but 80s-influenced synth pop, and a Carpenteresque/Tangerine Dream-like score composed by noted synthwave artist Steve Moore. Some viewers may wonder how realistic it is that all the diegetic music featured are by artists, if they were ever popular at all, that had their hey-day three decades before. However, you just have to go with it. As mentioned before, this film is a throw back to those times. The atmosphere drips it, and the music, whether vocal or instrumental, needs to fit it. The final scene is a prismatic chase-and-flee set piece, and the blaring music fleshes out the retro mood the poster art teases.

Are there any low points? While some may appreciate the mystery of the David character, others may feel frustrated about the minimal backstory. You’re given snippets of what went down before we entered the story. It puts into question what was the point of the program? Shouldn’t the organization have known this type of situation could’ve arose? How well did David know Caleb? As the organization is glanced at and presented as nebulous, how big are its operations? Is David one of a kind? It might be unfair to list this as a criticism as I don’t believe Wingard had it as his aim to focus on these matters. Still, I think the weaker parts of the film manifest themselves when the film’s scope gets too wide, while the film’s strengths are magnified by focusing on David’s interactions with the Peterson family and their associates.

This slick thriller takes you back to a cinematic time when atmosphere was prominent. Atmosphere matters because it can cover over budget deficiencies or minor plot holes. There’s a reason why audiences and critics have usually praised these moderately budgeted 80s throwbacks. Films like this one take you to an invented world that may not make sense according to reality, but it makes sense according to that world’s logic. This is a story that’s not out to change your opinions, but it still pushes you to care for the family and their plight no matter the invented ridiculousness of it. The Guest does its best to invite you in.