Story: A man once accused of killing his first wife travels with his new family to a sleek countryside home for vacation, only for him to find out the house has some twists and turns that make for some serious nightmare fuel.
Review: As is the case with most bad movies, underneath YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT there’s the faintest glimmer of a good one. The story of a man trapped in a house that becomes a labyrinthian manifestation of his own nightmares is a solid premise for some decent chills and worthwhile character exploration. However, the small bits and pieces that make for the strongest elements are bogged down in what is mostly a mind-numbing mess of an attempted mind-bender that never makes full use of what it's been given.
Like many a horror story before, this tale starts by introducing us to the seemingly perfect family that's soon to be doomed. The primary focus is on the patriarch of the family, Theo Conroy (Kevin Bacon), who in his past was accused of and tried for the murder of his first wife, before being proven innocent. Theo hopes to get some distance from the people giving him the “Yeah that guy totally did it” looks by traveling with his actress wife, Susanna (Amanda Seyfried), and their young daughter Ella (Avery Essex) to a sleek, modern house alongside the English countryside. It doesn’t take long for the aforementioned doom to take the early form of shadows on the wall and lamps turning on by themselves, and while that admittedly doesn't exactly sound like Hell spilling over into the real world, it does have a slightly eerie effect considering the house they're at.
Adapting from the novella by Daniel Kehlmann, David Koepp is behind the script and the camera here, and his highest marks go to how he and production designers Sophie Becher and Megan Elizabeth Bell established a seriously weird house. Not quite the architectural marvel of style and symbolism like in last year’s PARASITE, but Koepp’s attention to detail and solid editing from Derek Ambrosi makes the bobbing and weaving between unnervingly long hallways and through doors leading to god-knows-where feel appropriately unsettling. You wouldn’t be wrong in trying to compare the premise and this creepy house — a character in its own right — to Stanley Kubrick’s THE SHINING, but at least there was more to that movie than just it’s freaky location.
The story relies on the frailty of the couple's marriage, and soon Theo grows ever suspicious of his wife, so as that mistrust deepens so too does the terror both of his nightmares and within the house. Again, that sounds like a solid premise on paper, but Koepp’s execution just doesn’t hit the notes it needs to. There's no sense of urgency in where the story is taking our lead, and very few traces of suspense to make any mystery feel palpable. As the terror is meant to heighten the approach feels more casual and less terrifying, as Bacon’s expressions as Theo range between “Huh, that’s odd” and a mild startle when it comes to the freakiness of the place. The ingredients are there for some psychological fear, but the presentation is meandering and almost aimless. Even as the conflict between Theo and Susanna progresses it doesn’t feel like the level of dramatic tension is reflected in equal measure by ensuing psychological terror. Theo, nor the rest of the family, seem to care much about what’s going on around them other than acknowledging the house is a tad odd. Between the lack of effective chills mixed with an equal lack of momentum, we're left stranded in a story that can't escape plodding pacing as it tries to juggle surreal horror and psychodrama.
When it comes to suspense and dread I don't think it's necessary for movies like this to be traditionally scary or rely on jump scares, but it should at least be…something. The suspense doesn't so much as build as it does just show up from time to time, there to remind you that we are watching a horror film. Despite a twisty location (accompanied by the occasionally ominous townsfolk who are coy with their info about what's up with the house) so little is done with the house until it tricks are heaved at the screen in a chaotic final act filled with well-designed, creepy halls of dread that feel rushed out to make up for an unengaging first two acts.
Although they’re often stranded in a story that isn’t going anywhere, the trio of Bacon, Seyfried and Essex give it their best. This is mostly a show for Bacon, who is at his best here as a man trying to suppress his darker tendencies, resisting the urge to go off. I would've liked to have seen him have more material to truly showcase a man struggling with his sanity, as by the end it doesn't feel like Koepp's script pushed the character as far as he could've been. Seyfried — who does what she can in the role of a mom who thinks it’s okay to recount to her six-year-old the grisly details of her father’s past murder investigation — isn't given enough to play off of other than as a foil for Theo’s anxieties. Sometimes stealing the show is Essex’s Ella, an undeniably adorable character who will likely earn most of your dedication and sympathy. Even when there’s a sequence that comes off more funny when it should've been tense, it's worth it because she and Bacon have such delightful chemistry together.
When the expected final reveal that may even be called a twist by some people comes to light, it doesn't feel cliche or invalid, only that the 90 or so minutes leading to it feel wasted. Key story elements and character developments are properly put in place, and all in one twisted location, but these worthwhile elements are stranded in a presentation that hardly ever makes any of it suspenseful or engaging to watch. Does this make YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT a terrible movie? No. It's simply an ably-made bad movie, and like other movies of its kind, it's all the more disappointing when you can see all the potential lingering just out of reach.