Rent Zathura on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Osgood Perkins
Directed by: Osgood Perkins
Starring: Maika Monroe, Nicolas Cage, Blair Underwood, Alicia Witt, Kiernan Shipka
Rated: R
Watch the trailer
Plot
In pursuit of a serial killer, an FBI agent uncovers a series of occult clues that she must solve to end his terrifying killing spree.
Verdict
It's an unsettling mystery that's nearly too weird. The entire movie is odd, and it never feels realistic, but this is a movie that's about the mood over the action. This is disturbing from the start and only gets creepier. It's not a movie you're meant to enjoy, and while I appreciate what it does, this is style over substance that leaves you questioning characters' actions. The story will leave you wanting.
It depends.
Review
An attention grabbing opener sets the tone for the movie. I can only assume it's some kind of abduction, and even then it's odd. That's the teaser before we introduced to FBI Agent Harker (Maika Monroe). She has a premonition about a suspect in a house, and it turns out she's right.
The FBI embraces her supernatural intuition with Agent Carter (Blair Underwood) giving her case files, putting her in a room, and telling her to get to work. It's slightly odd. I thought she was new but how did they know how she works or that she needs an empty room?
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| Maika Monroe plays Agent Harker |
There are a number of situations that don't seem logical. Carter invites Harker to his home and they barely know each other. I guess he wanted to prove to his wife why he was out late. It might be the scene exists just to show how awkward Harker is around people. That makes sense if she's psychic as that could have been a very isolating childhood.
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| Maika Monroe plays Agent Harker |
This does a great job of being unnerving, from the way shots are framed to how Harker is distant from people. This movie wants to create a feeling more than being accurate. I don't think two agents investigating a lead on a serial killer case would go to a barn at night alone even if Carter considers it a flimsy lead.
This gets wild, and it's that level of unhinged that helps suspend your disbelief about how inter-related everything becomes. I understand the what and the why, but this throws a lot at you. It's almost too weird and twisted. Not to give this away, but it's possession and influence. To what end, I still don't know. Nicolas Cage pro.vides quite a performance, but I guarantee you'll be surprised at how little he's in the movie.
This movie creates such a mood. The goal is unsettling, and it does that. While the movie sacrifices story to get there, that adds to the disorientation. Even when this ends, it's not really clear what happened, or at least why it happened.
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