MORAL OF THE MOVIE

Always say yes when a psychopath asks you to the prom. More seriously though, this is a cautionary tale of how guilt and self-pity can take us into a world of pain and agony. However, we’re only stuck there until we willfully get ourselves out of the rut for our own sake and for the sake of those who care about us.

WHO I THINK WOULD MOST ENJOY THIS MOVIE

This is a very niche movie as most indie horror movies are, so it will appeal the most to a very particular group of moviegoers. If you are enticed by the combination of Saw (2004) and The Cabin in the Woods (2011) with a hint of Tarantino-esque bloody gore, then this movie is made for you. More specifically, if you liked Eli Roth’s Hostel (2005), then you’ll really like this one.

ADDITIONAL NOTES/COMMENTARY

This is a movie that I simply came across on Amazon Prime Video without knowing anything about the movie coming into it other than the fact that it was a critically acclaimed indie horror movie. The poster mainly caught my attention because of the coloring and the menacing power drill front and center. Coming into movies completely blind is oftentimes the best way to experience a movie because everything catches you by surprise. If there is one thing that I can say about this movie, it’s that it plays with your expectations and that is mainly the source of its horror. The Loved Ones is the type of horror flick that you think that you’ve seen before and the director knows that, so everything plays off the conventional teen horror genre. At first, I thought I had seen this type of movie before and could predict where it was going but then I quickly realized that I was sorely mistaken. So, if you’re thinking about watching this one, then my one piece of advice would be to come in blind and try to see if you can see where the movie is headed because that’s where I found a lot of the fun in this movie-watching experience. Regarding its moral, I actually struggled a bit with this one. Then, I thought about how the film’s protagonist goes from barely wanting to live (engaging in self-harm) to only wanting to live another day. In that subtle arc, I interpreted the entire film’s message as being a cautionary tale of how one freak situation, while horrible, can have the potential of giving perspective to someone without any. In other words, it’s easy to get bogged by what could’ve been and feeling guilty for something that may have happened in the past. Yet, all it takes is a little bit of perspective to get you out of your rut and help you make the most of your life despite your past for your own sake as well as the sake of those who you love and love you back. All in all, The Loved Ones takes a very extreme approach to convey this message but contains very fun horror and bone-chilling gore that are heightened by how the film plays with your expectations.