A One Mann’s Movies review of “Significant Other” (2022).
Another of the movies I saw on my recent trans-Atlantic trip with BA, this is available on the “Paramount+” streaming platform but also available to rent on others like Prime Video and Apple.
It has its moments, with some nice cinematography and a very nice piece of misdirection. But it’s a trail (no pun intended) that has been trodden many times before… and better.
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
Plot Summary:
Ruth (Maika Monroe) is a young woman with an abusive past and subject to panic attacks. She is persuaded by her boyfriend Harry (Jake Lacy) to trek with him along a remote trail in the Oregon wilderness. But a local asks “Did you see the red star fall?”. There is something alien in the woods with them.
Certification:
UK: 15; US: R. (From the BBFC web site: “Strong bloody images, threat, violence, language”.)
Talent:
Starring: Maika Monroe, Jake Lacy, Matthew Yang King, Dana Green.
Directed by: Dan Berk & Robert Olsen.
Written by: Dan Berk & Robert Olsen.
Twitter Handle: #SignificantOtherMovie.
What’s up with Ruth (Maila Monroe)? A concerned Harry (Jake Lacy) looks on. An example of some of the neat cinematography by Matt Mitchell. (Source: Paramount+).
“Significant Other” Review:
Positives:
- Whilst the story trots along in a fairly predicatable manner, there is one twist in the story that I genuinely didn’t see coming. And it’s quite neat!
- Both of the leads deliver passable performances, given that they are on screen for virtually all of the running time. (Another lockdown production I assume?). Monroe is probably best known for the lead in “It Follows”. Lacy, who has been in films like “Miss Sloane” and “Being the Ricardos“, was most memorable for me as the vacant actor playing the American soldier in “Their Finest“.
- There is some nice cinematography of the Oregon landscape by Matt Mitchell.
- The ending is delightfully open-ended, in a bleak sort of way.
Negatives:
- I don’t want to rag this one too much, since this has the feel of a low-budget passion project by the two writer/directors. But this is a fairly bog-standard “something creepy in the woodshed” story that never gets too far away from the predictable: a cross between Alien, Predator and (very much in one aspect) Terminator 2.
- After various “recoveries” of the protagonist, there is a certain frustration that the ‘other party’ seems to not suspect that the threat might not still be there for them!
Summary Thoughts on “Significant Other”
Solid and predictable, this doesn’t break any new cinematic ground. As a park-your-brain horror thriller, it might appeal late on a Saturday night with a curry and a few beers.
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Trailer for “Significant Other”:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2ArvtpGtKU . What a slickly put together trailer…. the trailer is actually better than the film!
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