Luke McWilliams gives his review of the 2021 thriller film, Intrusion, starring Freida Pinto and Logan Marshall-Green.

Child psychologist Meera Parson (Freida Pinto) and her architect husband Henry (Logan Marshall-Green) have recently moved from Boston to seek a quieter life on the remote outskirts of a small town after Meera’s bout with cancer. After returning to their newly developed home from a date night, the pair soon experience a home invasion.

After 1987’s Fatal Attraction, the suburban psychological thriller grew in popularity during the 1990s with Sleeping With The Enemy, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, and more. Using familiar settings and heightening the stakes of societal norms, they peered into shared primal fears and referenced Hitchcock in style, mood, and score.

Intrusion, like its modern architecture, is more minimalist, which is a good choice following Netflix’s overindulgent Hitchcock homage, The Woman in the Window. The flourishes of the neo-noir are pared back with an effective but low-key throbbing score, a single remote location and very few players. The mood and setting are subtly inspired by David Fincher’s neo-noir thrillers Panic Room and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Background material is delivered slowly but significantly throughout an efficient plot, all culminating in a pared-back runtime like movies of old. The use of theme is also well done, exploring the idea of ‘intrusion’ fully.

Verdict: A taut and effective suburban mystery thriller that doesn’t oversaturate the audience with homages to the genre. Hitchcock fans, however, may be left wanting. 4 stars out of 5.

Intrusion is streaming on Netflix.

Luke McWilliams | themovieclub.net

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