The Guest is a 2014 American psychological action thriller film directed and edited by Adam Wingard and written by Simon Barrett. The film stars Dan Stevens, Maika Monroe, Brendan Meyer, and Lance Reddick. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 17, 2014. Wingard and Barrett similarly worked together for their previous film You're Next (2011). The film was released in the UK on the 5th of September and then released on 17th of September in the US.
Plot
Still struggling over the loss of their oldest son, Caleb, to the war in Afghanistan, the Peterson family - Mr. and Mrs. Peterson and their children Luke and Anna - are unexpectedly visited by David Collins, a former soldier who claims to have been a friend of Caleb's, and is there to fulfill his promise to Caleb to help take care of the family. David is polite, warm and friendly toward the family, and Mrs. Peterson offers to let him stay as long as he needs to.
While staying with the family, David hears of Mr. Peterson's troubles at work, and witnesses Luke return home with a black eye. With Luke's help, he follows the students that attacked Luke to a bar, then humiliates and defeats them in a fight, using his knowledge of the law to convince the bartender not to tell anyone. David then goes to a party with a reluctant Anna, at which he saves her friend Kristen from her ex-boyfriend and has sex with her, also inquiring about where to buy guns from Anna's friend Craig. On their way home from the party, Anna offers to make David a mix CD.
David teaches Luke some self-defense and gives him his butterfly knife. When he goes to buy the guns from Craig and his friend, he kills them both before leaving with the guns, as well as two grenades. An increasingly suspicious Anna calls the military base to ask about David; this alerts a private corporation headed by Major Carver, who considers the matter of great importance and assembles a team of special forces before departing to find David. The base tells Anna that David died a week ago in a fire. Anna is distraught upon hearing that Craig has been killed and her boyfriend Zeke has been blamed for it, and asks Luke to do some research on the numbers David has called on his "burner" phone - it is also revealed that Mr. Peterson's boss and girlfriend are both dead as well, making him the new regional manager.
At school, one of the students who David attacked at the bar calls Luke a "faggot"; Luke attacks him and both land in the principal's office. David arrives with Mrs. Peterson and convinces the principal to let Luke off with a month of after-school detention getting prepared for the homecoming dance. Luke tells David in confidence that Anna is suspicious and that he knows David must have killed everyone that's turned up dead in the last few days, but claims he doesn't care "'cause we're friends", and reveals that Anna may also have told Kristen about him. While helping Mrs. Peterson with the laundry, Major Carver and his team attack the house and attempt to kill David, who deftly kills everyone except Carver, and kills Mrs. Peterson after apologizing to her for what he's done. While driving away, he crashes into Mr. Peterson's car, then kills him as well after apologizing again.
Major Carver picks up Anna and informs her that her parents are dead and that David is really a former test subject for a military health program; his mental condition has been "programmed" to, if he believes his identity compromised, kill everyone who could possibly know about it. David kills Kristen and blows up the restaurant she works at with the grenades, then heads for the school to take care of Luke. Carver and Anna also head for the school, which is set up as a haunted house for the Halloween dance. When Carver and Anna attempt to help Luke escape, David announces his presence at the school by playing Anna's mix CD, then killing Luke's supervising teacher and Carver when the four try to exit the building. Anna shoots David with Carver's gun, but David stabs her in the leg and attempts to choke her; Luke rescues her by stabbing David with his own butterfly knife repeatedly. As he seemingly dies, David tells Luke that he did the right thing and gives him a thumbs-up.
While sitting in an ambulance outside the now-burning school, Anna and Luke witness a firefighter enter the building and then leave; the leaving firefighter appears to Anna to be David, who has seemingly survived. The film cuts to credits just as Anna exclaims "What the fuck?"
Cast
Production
Wingard directed the new thriller film with the script written by Simon Barrett. Keith Calder and Jessica Wu produced. On March 7, 2014 Picturehouse picked up the US distribution rights to the film. The film was released into cinemas on 5th of September, 2014.
Casting
On June 11, 2013, actor Dan Stevens signed to star in the lead role in The Guest. He plays David, an Army soldier who returns from a tour of duty a changed man and terrorizes a military family whose eldest son recently died. Maika Monroe was signed on June 26, to star opposite Stevens. She plays the role of Anna, the female lead who is suspicious of David and must protect her younger brother from his cold-blooded wrath. On July 8 two more added to the cast by the director includes Brendan Meyer who will play Luke, Monroe's younger brother and Lance Reddick who will play the role of CID agent.
Filming
On July 17, 2013 The New Mexico Film Office announced the start of the production of The Guest. The filming finished at the end of August and was filmed in different locations like Moriarty, Edgewood and Estancia.
Release
Marketing
On June 26, 2014, the first teaser trailer was released, followed by another trailer on August 6.
Critical reception
The Guest has received critical acclaim by both critics and audiences. Fearnet praised the film's acting and overall remarked that it was "a slick, fast, fun thriller flick." As of November 2014, the film has a 89% score on Rotten Tomatoes based on 85 reviews. The consensus states: "Boasting enough intelligence to bolster its darkly violent thrills, The Guest offers another treat for genre fans from director Adam Wingard." On Metacritic, the film has a 76/100 rating based on 29 critics, signifying "generally favorable reviews"..
Box office
The film opened in the United Kingdom on September 5, 2014 in 274 screens. It finished in eighth place, grossing $511,040. After four weeks, the film grossed $1,352,579. The film arrived in US markets on September 17 in just 19 screens. During the first weekend, the film took in $84,527 and a total of $114,104. The film dropped to fiftieth and seventy-fourth place during the next two weeks. It expanded to more markets on October 10, increasing its screen count from 8 to 52. It grossed $47,957 for the weekend, with a meager per-screen average of $905. After four weeks, the film has grossed $285,845.
Soundtrack
Official soundtrack:
- "Haunted When The Minutes Drag" (Love and Rockets) â€" 8:01
- "Hourglass" (S U R V I V E) â€" 4:30
- "Anthonio (Berlin Breakdown Version)" (Annie) â€" 4:14
- "The Magician" (Mike Simonetti) â€" 3:59
- "Masquerade" (Clan Of Xymox) â€" 3:53
- "Omniverse" (S U R V I V E) â€" 4:34
- "Because I Love You (The Postman Song)" (Stevie B) â€" 5:03
- "Storm Column" (Gatekeeper) â€" 3:30
- "A Day" (Clan Of Xymox) â€" 6:40
- "Emma" (The Sisters of Mercy) â€" 6:34
- "Obsidian" (Gatekeeper) â€" 4:19
- "Cry In The Wind" (Clan Of Xymox) â€" 5:16
Additional tracks (credited and played during movie but not on official soundtrack):
- "Sahara" (F.O.O.L.) - 4:31
- "Moldavia" (Front 242) - 4:25
- "Sacrifice" (Front 242) - 4:31
- "Der Mussolini" (Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft) - 3:52
- "Alles ist gut" (Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft)
- "I want to go to hell" (Hocico)
- "Vengeance (Return of the night driving Avenger)" (Perturbator)
References
External links
- Official website
- The Guest at the Internet Movie Database
- The Guest at Box Office Mojo
- The Guest at Rotten Tomatoes
- The Guest at Metacritic