SXSW 2019: Villains Review

This will be one of many reviews during this year’s SXSW Film Festival, to keep up with our latest coverage, click here.

Synopsis: After a pair of amateur criminals break into a suburban home, they stumble upon a dark secret that two sadistic homeowners will do anything to keep from getting out. (IMDB)

Starring: Bill SkarsgÃ¥rd, Maika Monroe, and Jeffrey Donovan

Writers: Dan Berk and Robert Olsen

Directors: Dan Berk and Robert Olsen

Rating: n/a

Running Time: 88mins

Trailer: n/a

Super campy, retro thrillers are now in apparently. Following Greta earlier this year, here comes Villains, a silly and especially campy comedy thriller that ratchets up the crazy but still somehow works. Suffice it to say that the film’s over-the-top nature won’t be for everybody, however, the film never takes itself too seriously. The story was about a couple of comically amateurish criminals named Mickey (Skarsgard) and Jules (Monroe) who while on the run stumble on what they believed to be an empty house before meeting its homeowners who were not what they seemed since this wouldn’t be much of a film otherwise.

George (Donovan) and Gloria (Kyra Sedgwick) are an almost comically old-fashioned husband and wife duo who wanted their particular hobbies kept a secret from the outside world. Mickey and Jules’ arrival in their lives threatened to put that secret in jeopardy. George and Gloria were willing to do just about anything to protect themselves and their unpredictability only added to the tension. They were definitely a pair of psychopaths who were entertaining to watch but the film could have definitely gone further with them. The same was the case for Mickey and Jules for that matter, however, this was never going to be one of those films anyway.

The best part of the film was its delightfully over-the-top performances across the board. Skarsgard and Monroe were great as the comically inept Mickey and Jules respectively. Their chemistry made them fun to watch and to care about them. The same would be the case for Donovan and Sedgwick as the psychopathic George and Gloria respectively who were even more impressive primarily due to how unexpected it was, Sedgwick particularly.

Overall, Villains is a super campy yet entertaining thriller whose generally over-the-top nature won’t be for everyone but everybody definitely brought it here performance-wise including memorable turns from Kyra Sedgwick and Jeffrey Donnovan.

Score: 7.5/10

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.