‘The Intruder’ (2024)

‘The Intruder’ follows Michael (David Gow), a young man who has recently bought a house and is living on his own for the first time in his life. Welcomed to the neighborhood by Joe (Steve McNair), Michael tries to adjust to the new house. Having trouble sleeping, Micheal is kept awake by strange noises and believes his house is being broken into.

Opening on Micheal trying to fall asleep, the man is kept awake by the sound of the back door opening. Following the noise, he sees a hooded figure and awakens the following morning passed out on his living room floor. The opening of the film caters to a few possible tracks the narrative could follow. We’re led to believe that Michael was confronted by a masked intruder. Having Michael wake up on the floor suggests the protagonist to be an unreliable narrator, creating for a more intriguing story.

Growing increasingly concerned about his home security, and at Joe’s suggestion, Michael buys cameras, a door security bar and begins to record and monitor his sleep. Convinced that there is someone trying to breach his home repeatedly, the young man is desperate for protection, eventually opting to purchase a gun.

Exacerbating the situation, Michael experiences ultra vivid dreams and sleep paralysis, driving him further into despair and uncertainty about what is happening to him. Seeking help from his sister and consulting with a physician, Micheal tries to confirm that everything that is happening is all in his head. What doesn’t help the situation is the fact that some doors in his house still appear to unlock on their own and open.

Trying to contact the previous inhabitant of the house Nancy (Nancy Brame), the film toys with the idea that there may be a supernatiral presence in the house. With Nancy suggesting that she’s seen a daemon or a ghost, the film dismisses the suggestion as quickly as Micheal does in the conversation with her over the phone. Bringing up a potential supernatural element to the story seems captivating at first, but there is no follow up to this and the film does not explore this avenue any further.

With the possible supernatural aspect of the story dismissed, the film still fails to focus in and generate enough tension for its main character. Micheal seemingly does everything he can to detect if there is anyone actually breaking into his home, with every attempt at capturing anything on film failing, garnering frustration rather than suspense when it comes to furthering the plot and excitement for the story.

As time passes, Micheal becomes increasingly paranoid, frustrating his relationship with Joe. The two fall out as Michael’s erratic behavior endangers Joe and his wife. Because of how the story is set up and how recent Michael and Joe’s relationship is, Gow and McNair never quite reach a level of familiarity that would prompt the viewers to feel overwhelming heartbreak over the two falling out. The recency of the friendship is too fresh to be viewed as a tragic loss if it were to fall apart and too insignificant to weigh heavily on Michael’s conscience.

Gow does well in portraying a man haunted by a presence, be it in his dreams or in the waking world. What fails to land for the character is the progression of paranoia. Even though the character is experiencing an extended ‘haunting’ of sorts, Michael seems to remain at the same level of agitation and desperation throughout the feature. His journey to a complete breakdown never quite gets there, reflecting poorly on the fear factor that ‘The Intruder’ could amass, rather leading to an exasperating and tiresome plateau of more of the same.

With a strong opening that promises a dark and mysterious thriller, ‘The Intruder’ often meanders and repeats the same beats over, leading to less than excitement and irritation due to a lack of developments in the story.

Inadvertently shooting itself in the foot, the film reveals that Michael was right to suspect an intruder, as there was a man living in his attic. Revealing that fact too soon, the film squanders what little mystery it had and plays out a very predictable and forgettable conclusion to the story.

Tolerable at its best, ‘The Intruder’ fails to thrill, excite or even surprise as its familiar tone and forgettable story resolve to deliver a wholly unoriginal concept. Its most offensive crime may be a tiring and slow chronicle of events that could potentially have been exciting. Failing to commit wholeheartedly to Michael’s psychological breakdown, the film offers little and is best avoided.

Score: 1/4