Directed by David Yarovesky and written by Michael Arlen Ross, a thief breaking into a luxury SUV realizes that he has slipped into a sophisticated game of psychological horror. Starring: Bill Skarsgård, Anthony Hopkins and Ashley Cartwright.
If there’s one thing you can never go wrong with in casting, it’s putting Anthony Hopkins in the role of the villain. For years we’ve adored his eloquent yet menacing voice in all sorts of forms and it never disappoints. Locked is no exception because it’s exactly like what we’ve seen from him before, mind games, power plays and veiled threats. It’s always enjoyable and he’s paired well with Bill Skarsgård as the deadbeat dad trying to turn things around but his old habits die hard. Skarsgård is great at creating that type of underdog, scrappy characters so it’s effortless to invest in his fight to escape.
In the bigger picture of films like this, while the concept may not be that original, the methods feel like a decent change of pace. Creatively weaponizing a small space for into William’s (Hopkins) sadistic pleasure, it gives Eddie (Skarsgård) plenty to contend with. If Michael Arlen Ross had leant into that torturous nature, embraced the desire for pain and punishment, and let that fully take hold, this could have been a really good time. However, instead Ross decided to try to add social issues into the mix and give it a political edge, which simply makes the story feel like it’s trying way too hard. It gives both the story and the dialogue itself an overly formulated feel.
The visual feels along the same lines, it’s decent work but there’s a quality to it which feels like it’s thinking too much. It’s moving very purposefully rather than letting the chaos take hold which gives it a slightly stiff edge. Although it does employ a good amount of violence, it doesn’t keep all of its games psychological, there’s definitely pain to be inflicted. David Yarovesky also deserves credit for it always feeling claustrophobic for the character but not for the audience. Yarovesky keeps things moving and uses a lot of differently styled shots to prevent things from getting too stale.
Locked may not be blazing a new path for horror-thriller cinema but it’s still an enjoyable ride. It sadly veers off into political territory which adds a superficial edge but when it’s focused on the battle of wills between Eddie and William, it’s a good piece of simple entertainment. Unsurprisingly both Bill Skarsgård and Anthony Hopkins are terrific and elevate it to fight back against its shortcomings visually and thematically. It won’t blow your socks off, and it certainly could have gotten more twisted, but if you’re up for an easy watch, coming in at just over ninety minutes, this is a solid choice.
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