Movie Review

Film Review: HOUSE OF DARKNESS (2022): Justin Long and Kate Bosworth are Intriguing in Director Neil LaBute’s Wicked Return to the Screen

Kate Bosworth House Of Darkness

House of Darkness Review

House of Darkness (2022) Film Review, a movie written and directed by Neil LaBute and starring Justin Long, Kate Bosworth, Gia Crovatin and Lucy Walters.

Neil LaBute is a master filmmaker whose 1998 masterpiece, Your Friends & Neighbors, changed our perspective of the needs, wants, motivations and manipulations presented by both men and women. In House of Darkness, we are treated to a stage-like exploration of the sexes and a whole lot more. Cast in the two lead roles are performers who have done extremely similar roles in films released within the past 30 days. Justin Long plays another clueless guy looking to escape a fate he pretty much deserves after portraying a very similar character in the just released Barbarian. Kate Bosworth adds another film played out almost entirely in one setting to her resume after starring in the just released The Immaculate Room.

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LaBute doesn’t beat around the bush too much in terms of opening up the premise of his new film. He starts his movie right where it should begin. Hap (Long) has met a beautiful woman named Mina (the radiant Bosworth). Hap drives her home to a large gated mansion which is automatically a sign of something too good to be true. But, Hap wants to get involved with this woman. Long’s Hap is not married at the moment and why not enjoy the company of a nice woman? As Hap comes inside the home, the audience will be impressed to see the look of the house which is certainly a lot of house for supposedly one person. Candles add decorative flair to the dark atmosphere creating suspense as the movie’s dialogue takes flight. Drinks are plentiful, and Hap expects sex but the movie has a few wild cards up its sleeve.

Mina is a fascinating character but what are her motivations in terms of her interaction with Hap and what does her name signify, if anything? And although they are supposed to be alone, why, exactly does Mina’s sister Lucy (Gia Crovatin) show up and why, specifically, does Hap even bother to think of flirting with Lucy? Is Hap so clueless that he would jeopardize his own desire to be with Mina by doing that? There’s also another character who plays a role in the plot’s development– yet another sister named Nora, who is uniquely played by Lucy Walters.

It’s hard to give away a lot of the movie’s biggest revelations because that would include some serious spoilers. This film does make its way to horror movie territory but may not appeal to everyday horror buffs. It’s too slow of a burn. This is a thinking person’s scary movie. It’s very talky, and that’s no surprise considering the filmmaker at the helm. LaBute’s new film has also had a trailer which has sort of hinted as to the whole “vampire” angle/inspiration of the movie but I’ll say no more just in case you haven’t seen that trailer yet.

LaBute also excelled when he made the terrific film, The Shape of Things, in 2003. Almost 20 years later, things haven’t changed too much. Men will be men and will often be only after “one thing” while women will find these men easy to predict in terms of their motivations. Since then, we’ve had 2020’s Promising Young Woman which changed the whole perspective of these movies having been written by a woman itself. That 2020 film was a masterpiece. House of Darkness is not so much a masterpiece. The characters seem to go around in circles through their conversations and Hap doesn’t learn any lessons which a man his age should have learned decades ago.

House of Darkness is, itself, a unique experience despite its flaws and some of the familiarity of the scenario the movie sets up. Long and Bosworth are fresh and appealing performers and the movie is what it is because of their determined efforts to portray their respective characters as strongly as possible. What works best about the movie is the visual look of it, though. With a small budget, LaBute has managed to create a series of scenes that provide nice backdrops to them. Long and Bosworth are valuable to the quality of the movie but so is the setting which acts almost as if it is a character itself.

Writer/director LaBute has fashioned a horror movie that will work best for people who may not have seen the filmmaker’s older work. Those folks could be a lot more impressed by what House of Darkness is doing than someone like me who has seen way too many movies. Overall, though, there is a lot of quality lurking about this picture. It’s a curiosity piece that would be worth seeing if you like the stars. LaBute is still a genius and his insights here are nevertheless fascinating.

Rating: 7/10

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Thomas Duffy

Thomas Duffy is a graduate of the Pace University New York City campus and has been an avid movie fan all of his life. In college, he interviewed film stars such as Minnie Driver and Richard Dreyfuss as well as directors such as Tom DiCillo and Mark Waters. He is the author of nine works of fiction available on Amazon. He's been reviewing movies since his childhood and posts his opinions on social media. You can follow him on Twitter. His user handle is @auctionguy28.
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