It’s a nightmare. You feel like your body is trapped in this sarcophagus-like state. Your eyes dart around constantly, shifting the focus to each corner of the room. You have strength but your limbs just can’t respond. Such is the premise of Netflix’s “Don’t Move” in which that very primal fear is tapped into.
Coming from first-time feature film directors, Brian Netto and Adam Schindler along with producer Sam Raimi is a commentary on tragedy and how losing a loved one is devastating… paralysing even.
The story introduces us to our protagonist, Iris (Kelsey Asbille) as she drives into an isolated location away from civilization. She’s hiking up the hills, passing waterfalls and sceneries as she sets foot on her destination.
We soon learn that this is a memorial and that she chose this place to retreat and grieve the loss of her son due to a tragic accident.
As she inches closer to the edge, she looks down upon the forest sea below, allured by the green pastures that seemingly lie ahead. She tenses up for the first time in this film, frozen as she stares down into the depths.
While she stands precariously, a man arrives at the summit, seemingly there to vent off his personal plagues. He initially attempts to coax Iris off the cliff, asking about the reason she’s there. He introduces himself as Richard (Finn Witrock), asking her for her name. However, seeing as she’s reluctant to open up, he pivots and talks about his struggles with the death of his wife in a car crash.
Although Richard does not proceed to persuade her, telling her that he would be indifferent to whatever she does next, his final line complimenting how beautiful the day was finally breaks her from the spell and she sheepishly follows him down the path. It’s a silent walk but there’s a comfort in the companionship.
Once they reach the base, they say their goodbyes, part ways, and head for their cars. Richard’s car is parked next to hers but something feels off. It’s just way too close for her to get in.
Richard steps out of his vehicle, cornering Iris in the claustrophobic spaces between their vehicles. He whips out an umbrella, but as he gets closer to her, she realises that it isn’t what it seems to be… And so is this man who had called himself Richard!
And so the horror begins. Richard tases Iris with the faux umbrella and proceeds to pump her with a paralytic agent, while he drags her into his car.
With each passing moment, the drug makes its effects known. The body shuts down slowly, eating away at the limbs, rendering speech useless until all that is left is a limp body. Iris is stuck in a situation that she can’t even run away from. It’s suffocating helplessness as she remains conscious without her motor functions intact.
Honestly, now that we think about it, this movie should have been called “Can’t Move”. Like, “Don’t Move” would have been akin to not allowing a killer to stalk you by staying still – looking at you “Don’t Breathe”, but in this case, the prey is unable to move in the first place, so, how does this game even work? Anyway…
With the paralysis setting in, she must think fast and use her final doses of muscular strength to get away from the evil stalking her.
If sleep paralysis wasn’t already tense enough, the idea of being stalked while paralysed in a forest during the day is quite the concept. It’s one thing to be on a bed as you peer into the dark but it is also dizzying to know that being still in a wide open space can also spell out danger.
For most of the film, we as the audience feel as helpless as Iris, as there is no indication that this is something that she can get out of. Even when she is found by a sweet old man on his land, she is not able to communicate properly, only using blinks for ‘yes’ and ‘no’. She can only scream in her head but not a single voice emanates from her throat.
Indeed, we do think that this is one way to display a profound message about grief. In the thread of life, there may be a time when we are called to express sorrow and go through the 5 stages. However, how long each process takes is subjective and there might be cases where it lingers on for too long and we might feel stiff.
If she can’t run, how can she escape?
What the filmmakers have done here is personify these stages through Iris’ paralysis. Each limb is halted until the person is not able to move. We see this at first when Iris is on the edge and she cannot bring herself closer until an intervention comes along.
Of course, how an individual handles grief is subjective. Denial, anger and bargaining might be the quickest to go through but the fourth stage is quite the killer. Iris is stuck in the dark waters of her soul, contemplating her life and the meaning of it all. Her mortality is questioned and she wallows in her sullen visage.
Without a doubt, the inability to move on is brutal. Iris learns that it is not easy to crawl out of it, and her strength doesn’t return until later on. Nevertheless, this will is hers and hers alone. Until she can regain her sense of mobility and strength through her experiences, she cannot climb through to the acceptance stage.
Much of the credit has to be given to Kelsey as she manages to portray emotion without the ability to move. It’s good that the camera lingers a lot on her eyes as these are the most expressive parts that can be utilised in these circumstances. We see sadness, fear and desperation all come into play as she fights for her survival.
Finn Witrock’s Richard, on the other hand, is quite the gaslighter – both literally and emotionally – as he prances around his victims, taunting them and creeping into their minds. He tells his victims lies and attempts to make them think that he is a person of good intentions. Although his victims might be careful around him, there eventually comes a time when they are put down.
Although he does have a good enough performance, we do think that his character is a little one-note despite the layer of tragedy they try to give him. As part of the screenplay isn’t as airtight, there are multiple lapses in continuity logic or situations where convenience hops in to play its part, and it breaks Richard’s character a little.
On a side note, we don’t know why, but there was something about his look that made us think of Leonardo DiCaprio in “Shutter Island”. It’s probably the hair.
Despite some of its flaws and inapt title, “Don’t Move” is pretty self-contained and adequate in what it sets out to achieve. Yes, it might be a little tropey but throughout this 90-minute thriller with Iris, she experiences the suffocating horror of being trapped in her own body with no means of escape. There are only people she can look to for help and even then there are multiple occasions where she wants to call out but is just unable to.
This echoes so much of what the low points of life can be and the directors did a good job at creating a piece that speaks to our sapien nature. As important as high points are, the nadirs of our lives also play a part in shaping us. How we allow it to affect us is entirely up to us and it is important to be able to express and not shrivel up and allow our spirit to die.
So, we’ll end by saying that there are indeed, beautiful days ahead of us where we are loved and surrounded by kind souls. Choosing to move is part of it.
“Don’t Move” is currently streaming on Netflix.
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