#MovieReview: Windfall wastes its interesting first act
Although all of the actors in the three-hander, Jesse Plemons, Lily Collins and Jason Segel, have good moments, Windfall ends up as slightly less than the sum of its parts.
Windfall is a tightly wound and tense thriller but ultimately does not earn its ending.
Trapping three actors in a luxury home and forcing them to interact amid rising intrigue, this is the kind of movie that is predicated upon character dynamics and performances.
It should be the ideal showcase for the triumvirate, but it does not quite reach the Hitchcockian highs for which it strives.
Director Charlie McDowell’s previous film, The Discovery has the same issue, where an interesting idea and first act are not brought to fruition in the denouement.
It is a still worthy entry into the contained thriller genre however, where lack of physical movement aids the feeling of breathlessness and tension.
For reference, the same feeling has been mined to better effect in recent thrillers like Ex Machina and Green Room.
Mild spoilers to follow:
Windfall opens on Segel, who is rummaging through an empty home on a luxury estate in northern California.
He is scruffy and unshaven, by all accounts a petty criminal who is just taking a chance.
As he gets ready to leave the homeowners, tech billionaire Plemons and wife Collins arrive for a getaway.
When he is discovered, an uneasy hostage situation develops.
The group are forced to spend a day and a half together, with the situation growing ever more dire and overblown.
Strange interpersonal dynamics emerge as the patina of social graces slowly fade from all three, leaving their true selves laid bare.
Windfall shoots for big themes of privilege and subservience, but does not go far enough on either for any real dialogue to develop as a result.
To its credit however, Windfall is completely wrapped up in 90 minutes and does not overstay its welcome.
With a different final act perhaps something memorable could have been produced, but unfortunately that is not the case.
Windfall can be found on Netflix.
Rated 18 for language and violence.
2/5.
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