Having made their director-writer team mark with the home invasion thriller You’re Next, Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett followed it up with the frantic action-sci-fi hybrid, The Guest. Kicking off as a mysterious thriller, The Guest feels like a movie you forgot to rent during the early 90s, a glorious throwback to medium-budget action flicks that, in another lifetime, could have been made by Cannon Films.
Freshly discharged from service, ex-soldier David (Dan Stevens) turns up on the doorstep of the Peterson family, professing to be a friend of their deceased son. David kept a promise to visit the Petersons, but with nowhere to go and no immediate plans, the family insist he stays with them. Tensions are strained in the aftermath of their bereavement, particularly between Laura (Sheila Kelley) and her husband Spencer (Leland Orser), who has also clashed with their daughter Anna (Maika Monroe). Meanwhile, their younger child, Luke (Brendan Meyer), is being bullied at school.
