Horror

Thriller

You Should Have Left

Blumhouse Productions

Universal Pictures

United States of America

English

Kevin Bacon

Amanda Seyfried

Avery Tiiu Essex

Colin Blumenau

Lowri Ann Richards

Eli Powers

Sarah Lochlan

Jason Blum

Daniel Kehlmann

David Koepp

Geoff Zanelli

Derek Ambrosi

Zac Gobetz

Dean O'Toole

Couper Samuelson

Jennifer Scudder Trent

Jeanette Volturno

Terri Taylor

Sophie Becher

Megan Elizabeth Bell

Adam Marshall

Clare Andrade

Susie Coulthard

Karen Malecki

Robin Pritchard

Miranda Jones

Megan Wynn

Angus Hudson

Kiera Tudway

Emily Deason

Mick Ward

Tom White

Silvia Bellitto

Kira Belin

Julie Sessing

Jason Milani

Patricia Leonidas

Kymbra Callaghan

Polly Earnshaw

Charlotte Clark

Margarita Allen

Cynthia O'Rourke

Emelia Corfe

Jessica Brooks

Louie Zakarian

Jenny Lovin

Franses Simonovich

India Gaul

Francis Hibbs

Louise Lannen

Luiza Pissurno

Dean Moran

Jasmine Lean

Sullivan Cayless

Joe Fitz-Gerald

Roland Trafton

Nathan Fisher

Nicholas Griffo

Brook Schafer

Kerry-Ellen Maxwell

James Wright

Eddie Wolstencroft

Luca Del Puppo

Johnny Smith

Ben Gooder

Rory Moles

Spike Morris

Jacob Robinson

Ben Platts

Russ Greening

Henriette Kristine Jacobsen

Greg McFarlane King

Joel Rainsley

Scott Youlden

Julia Green

Johnny Sousa

Mark Holownia

Adrian Barry

Katie Swain

Devon Catucci

Tom Wilkinson

Matt Wright

Nick Wall

Mark DeSimone

Kristin Catuogno

Duncan Craig

Paul Hanks

Simon Trundle

Robert Ireland

John Rodda

Paul Schwartz

Coll Anderson

Lee Herrick

Prashant Jadhav

Alexander Gunn

Pavan Balagam

Tarun Malla

Shane Jaeger-Collins

Wesley Froud

Justin Cornish

Brooke Lyndon-Stanford

Callum Anderson

Travis Caverhill

Manuel São Bento

If you enjoy reading my Spoiler-Free reviews, please follow my blog @
https://www.msbreviews.com

This movie has every ingredient to be a horror hit. David Koepp has written and/or directed phenomenal films: Jurassic Park, Mission: Impossible, Spider-Man, War of the Worlds, Stir of Echoes... the list keeps going. Add Kevin Bacon and Amanda Seyfried, and you've got yourself two fantastic leads. A horror flick set in a "haunted house", where the main characters go through some sort of a psychologically disturbing journey? The synopsis convinces me! So, with all of these features, there's no way this movie will fail, right? Yeah... It couldn't be more disappointing.

You Should Have Left ultimately doesn't know what genre it belongs to. Koepp clearly takes inspiration from a bunch of other films (some from his own filmography), completely forgetting to develop the one at hand. Everything about this movie feels unfinished, or, to be completely honest, everything feels like it's just an idea or a concept yet to be explored. Bacon and Seyfried interpret characters far from being persons with motivations, aspirations, or even personalities, especially Susanna, who is manipulated as a mere plot device to make things happen. She's an actress... that's her entire characterization.

As the viewer, I finish the film without knowing a single thing about any character. Theo has some sort of "past" (like every other Blumhouse's main character of a horror flick), which is barely explained in detail. The only moment where some backstory is given to his character is an utterly unbelievable exposition dump between the mother and her daughter. This is the only personal development that Theo receives: an event that happened in his life described in a forced conversation between characters that definitely shouldn't be having it.

Koepp's movie is marketed as a psychological horror film, but it doesn't even possess the necessary technical attributes to be scary or suspenseful. The "haunted house" looks way too bright, modern, and not claustrophobic at all. The editing (Derek Ambrosi) is weirdly out of sync with the score (Geoff Zanelli), and despite Angus Hudson's cinematography boasting a few nice shots, it doesn't really help to create the necessary atmosphere. It just doesn't look nor feels like a horror film. Just like with the characters, Koepp doesn't know where he wants the story to go.

There's an attempt at creating a drama within the family that doesn't work because, well, there are no *characters*, so I couldn't care less about their arguments. Then, an unnecessary sci-fi element is introduced, and it's bafflingly left unexplained. Finally, a mystery surrounding the house's size is approached, but just like the rest of the movie, it doesn't go beyond its concept. In fact, this is the most captivating aspect of the whole film, but it's only introduced after one hour of runtime. This movie tries to follow so many different paths genre-wise that it forgets to actually choose one...

Overall, You Should Have Left had tremendous potential to be a genuinely intriguing psychological horror flick, but David Koepp gets lost in the many ideas present in the film. Kevin Bacon delivers an excellent performance, and Amanda Seyfried (underused) also lends her undeniably talent, but both interpret characters far from being so. Koepp's screenplay holds so many underdeveloped concepts and extremely superficial attempts at balancing distinct genres that it totally forgets to actually tell a convincing story with complete character arcs and interesting plot points. Even technically, its well-lit, not-scary-at-all house doesn't generate a suspenseful or spooky atmosphere. The editing and the score are also weirdly put together. Unfortunately, it's underwhelming and disappointing. I can't really recommend it.

Rating: D+

You Should Have Left (2020) is a psychological horror film with an intriguing premise and eerie atmosphere, enhanced by jump scares and unsettling sound design. While the mysterious opening successfully builds suspense, the film suffers from weak character development, unclear backstories, and unresolved plot elements, leaving viewers with more questions than answers. Despite these flaws, the movie delivers a fair amount of tension and remains an enjoyable experience for fans of the genre.

Read the full review here: (Indonesian version : alunauwie.com)

Nightmarish - Extended Preview

Official Trailer

Best Movies

You Should Have Left

Cast & Crew

Videos

Cast

Kevin Bacon

Amanda Seyfried

Avery Tiiu Essex

Colin Blumenau

Lowri Ann Richards

Eli Powers

Box office

More Like This

Secret of the Blackbirds

A Caribbean Mystery

Lord Edgware Dies

Black Coffee

The Witches of Eastwick

Carlito's Way

13 Tzameti

Dead Man's Folly