Director – Jacob Chase (Larry, Amy)
Starring – Azhy Robertson (Rough Night, Beyond the Night), Gillian Jacobs (Community, The Box), and John Gallagher Jr. (Jonah Hex, 10 Cloverfield Lane)
Release Date – 2020
Rating – 2.5/5
Last year may have been a shit show but the fact that some companies were able to push through quarantine and social distancing laws to make any sort of a movie is pretty spectacular. These movies may not be movies I enjoy but they deserve some sort of credit when they are able to finish production, editing, and find distribution during a year when the entire country was shut down.
A few weeks ago I received the horror film Come Play for review. This 2020 title is one I had heard about a few months prior and was amazed that a film of this caliber was able to pull off a release in 2020. After watching Versus I decided it was the perfect time to give this one a spin.
**Spoiler Alert** The film follows a loving mother and her autistic son. He’s non-verbal and struggles with finding friends at school. He’s often bullied for being different. However, he soon finds an unlikely friend in an app named Larry. However, Larry is actually a monster that is using his iPad as a window to getting into our world. **Spoiler Alert**
I went into this one really excited to check it out but was quick to discover that it was actually pretty similiar to another film I recently reviewed, Z. Both films followed similiar stories but Come Play was a little bit better. Not by a lot but was some better.
The acting in this one is pretty good and consistent. The cast does a great job in their roles and the characters really stand out. They are very genuine and fit the story perfectly. With that being said, Azhy Robertson does a phenomenal job at the non-verbal autistic child. My degree is in education with emphasis on special education. I had seen so many children just like the one he portrays and he does an amazing job.
The story for this one is a solid horror feature BUT is too similar to the Shudder exclusive Z. In Z a family is haunted by their child’s imaginary friend. The similarities are there which makes it very difficult to see passed them. Though they both feature a similar story, Come Play’s execution makes this one a little more enjoyable than Z. The characters, action, and scenes are much more enjoyable. With that being said, a lot of the scenes we get are repetitive which results in a bit of a boring experience.
Finally, this is not a bloody flick. In fact, if you are looking for fun and inventive death scenes then you will be very disappointed. There is some visual effects with the creature that I was not digging. The monster itself was very disappointing and funny to look at. It definitely took the tone of the film away. Overall, Come Play was alright for a first time watch. It has a solid cast but an unoriginal story. From my understanding, this one is based on a short from the same director so Z could be inspired by it. Regardless, both share the same story and both are very forgettable.
