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Come Play Movie Review: Horror Flick Comes With Easy Scares And Some Emotional Depth
Come Play turns out to be a less scary and predictable film, but its message about finding human connection among friends and family is surprisingly poignant
Duration:
1
hour
45
minutes
Language:
English
Story: Come Play follows parents who fight to save their son (Oliver) when a mysterious creature from the other world, uses his electronic devices to break into the real world to take him away. The story comments on Oliver's loneliness portraying him as a non-verbal autistic who has trouble expressing himself and making friends.
Review: The film follows an autistic kid, Oliver (Azhy Robertson of Marriage Story) who has trouble communicating and expressing himself. The horror flick mainly focuses on Oliver and his relationship with his mother Sarah (Gillian Jacobs), who is trying her best while in the middle of a divorce with an inattentive father. Oliver who uses his phone to communicate and keep himself busy, one night finds a strange app on his phone called 'Misunderstood Monsters'.
The e-book of sorts will only let him read the story forward. As he swipes the pages, he begins to see Larry, a lonely, lanky skeletonoid creature looking for friendship, but it is not just in his phone. Oliver begins to hear pounding footsteps and the lights begin flickering too as Larry slowly appears behind him in real world.
Larry Was A Real 3D Puppy Used On Set Instead Of CGI
Directed by Jacob Chase, Come Play is an extended feature film that comes from a 2017 horror short film called Larry. Chase has kept the origins similar to the short, where Larry who lives on the other side of the screen can see you and only wants to make friends. Build for a tech-obsessed modern world, the story offers plenty of opportunities to explore a truly horror story. Larry too makes for a scary monster, but the makers have chosen to maintain a simplistic setting. The film also focuses more on its message of love and friendship than the age-old horror laden shindigs to impress the audience.
Azhy Robertson As Oliver Takes The Weight Of The Entire Film
Come Play is more of a horror story for children but still has plenty satisfying jump scares as well as atmospheric scares. While a slow burn, the screenplay has been stretched to play out for about 100 minutes. Several other characters introduced in the film also provide very little information or depth to the story.
Come Play Releases On November 27
Azhy Robertson as Oliver makes up for the wafer-thin character and screenplay. We don't see him speak in the film, but that does not stop him from interacting with others, real or supernatural characters. Gillian Jacobs, who plays the mother enjoys the most screen time after Oliver Her performance as the desperate mother who is trying to help her son with something she does not understand, is what grounds the audience in the story.
Overall, Come Play turns out to be a less scary and predictable film, but its message about finding human connection among friends and family is surprisingly poignant and is true especially right now, with social distancing amidst a pandemic, forcing people to stay behind a screen.
