You should have left

It can never be said enough that David Koepp is not only one of the best screenwriters (Mission Impossible (1996), Snake Eyes (1998), Spider-man (2002), Inferno (2016)) but also a gifted director who creates scary thrillers like the excellent Stir of Echoes (1999) (already with Kevin Bacon) and Premium Rush (2012). This time he adapts the novel by the successful German literary sensation Daniel Kehlmann (Measuring the World) and delivers a macabre story in which a screenwriter, his actress wife and their daughter go on holiday to Wales in a house that looks welcoming but has a gloomy past. What was supposed to be a dream holiday turns out to be a waking nightmare.

You Should Have Left shows what a good thriller should be. Nothing is overlooked here, starting with a script with multiple twists and turns and above all the psychology of the main character Theo Convoy. David Koepp knows how to play perfectly with the nerves of the audience and his film turns out to be labyrinthine and worthy of one of the best episodes of The Twilight Zone series. Far from being a traditional fantasy film, a poisonous thriller, You Should Have Left is above all a true cinematic experience. After an opening that introduces this family, the film moves out of a realistic setting to plunge a family into a waking nightmare and turn their vacation home into a disturbing place, a place from which there is no escape. In some ways this film is reminiscent of Vivarium (2020) but with an approach flirting less with fantasy and more with horror.

Director David Koepp surrounds himself here with an efficient and very small cast in which Kevin Bacon (also producer) and Amanda Seyfried form a realistic and endearing couple. Each of them seems to have their own weaknesses and not really be what they seem to be. By constantly playing on false pretences, You should have left is not only a successful stylistic exercise but also shows once again that this perfect casting gives the film a significant added value.

This Blumhouse production shows once again that, with a rather small budget, it is possible to make striking films that move away from the pre-formatted Hollywood studios' format in which they are increasingly becoming soulless marketing products in which directors too often have to let their imagination run wild in order to give works that are pleasing to everyone but without any real surprises. You should have left is certainly not David Koepp's best film, but in these times of pandemics in which we seem to be trapped in our homes as well, it has a very special aura and is a pleasant surprise of convincing originality.

You Should Have Left
Directed by David Koepp
Produced by Jason Blum, Dean O’Toole, Kevin Bacon
Screenplay by David Koepp
Based on You Should Have Left by Daniel Kehlmann
Starring Kevin Bacon, Amanda Seyfried
Music by Geoff Zanelli
Cinematography Angus Hudson
Production companies : Blumhouse Productions
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release date : June 18, 2020 (United States)
Running time : 93 minutes

Seen June 18 2020

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