In 1999 director/writer David Koepp along with star Kevin Bacon came made the movie STIR OF ECHOES based on the novel by Richard Matheson. The film was a successful collaboration between the two but for some reason Koepp’s career never took off from there. He directed SECRET WINDOW with Johnny Depp and GHOST TOWN with Ricky Gervais but then faltered with MORDECAI also starring Depp. Now Koepp and Bacon are back together again with the film YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT.
Bacon stars as Theo Conroy, an older man married to a
younger woman named Susanna (Amanda Seyfried). Along with Susanna comes her
daughter Ella (Avery Tiiu Essex) who Theo adores. There is some past history
involving Theo that is revealed a little later but for now the three of them
live a contented life with Susanna working as a top actress. When she get an
opportunity to work on a film in Wales the three decide to rent a house there
to live in.
The house is a modern looking structure and while it’s open and inviting things aren’t quite going as well as could be expected with the couple. Theo is suspicious of Susanna having an affair which wasn’t helped before they left as he visited the set while she was filming a sex scene before leaving. Hopefully this vacation will give them a chance to work through any potential issues.
As the family settles in they begin having nightmares, some
of which have followed them from their previous home. Strangely enough only
Theo and Ella seem to be having these nightmares, both involving mysterious
passages in the house as well as a man who lives in the shadows there. While
disturbed they never share these nightmares with one another.
Going to town to pick up some groceries Theo meets the man who owns the small store there. As he strikes up a conversation with the owner the man gives him cryptic responses about the house and its previous tenants. The last thing he does is give Theo a right angle telling him to check the angles of the house.
While he was gone Ella and Susanna are roaming the property.
At one point Ella asks her mother why it is that people hate Theo. This is when
we learn about his past. It seems that Theo was a successful banker who came
home one day to find his wife drowned in their bathtub having overdosed on
sleeping pills. The investigation led to his being hounded by the press with
many people viewing him as guilty of murdering his wife, people jealous that
someone so successful could not have done it.
As the days progress more and more strange things happen. The house seems to have a life all its own. Checking things out Theo and Ella discover that the inside of the house is larger than the outside when they measure it. But how could this be? Add to this a breakdown in the family structure due to the tension between Theo and Susanna and you have a scene ripe for the strange to overtake them all.
Questions begin to rise to the surface. Did Theo kill his
first wife? Is Susanna having an affair? Is Ella sensitive to the supernatural?
Is Theo going mad or are things really happening in this house? Is the house
haunted or could it be something else?
All of these questions are answered by the end of the film along with many more. It’s a thriller that works quite well with a suspense level that will keep you guessing as it progresses. At the heart of a film like this it is the story that matters most and this one is well told.
All of the actors here do an amazing job. Bacon, who many
will forever see as a youngster from his older films, does a great job as the
older husband with a younger wife here, worried that he will lose her. Seyfried
is perfect as the sexy actress who is years his junior and potentially looking
for someone else. But it is Essex as Ella that will either make or break this
movie and she makes it work.
My guess is this was one of those movies lost in the
covid-19 shuffle, a film destined for theaters that never made it there when
they all shut down. That’s a shame because I honestly enjoyed this little film.
My guess is you will too so give it a watch.
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