Survive the Night (2020)

This cleverly conceived thriller is about a doctor and his family trapped inside a farm by two criminals. The film is well-paced and the camera work is slick. Bruce has a surprising larger role then I expected as the grandfatherly patriarch and he's effective enough to keep be engrossed. The rest of cast are admirable. With the stand out being, Shae Buckner who plays a unhinged but sympathetic criminal and does well to add layers to the role. The single location setting is brought to the fore here by expert claustrophobic direction. The violence is intense, sometimes graphic but never over the top, and completely tense. It's not a big blow 'em up adventure story, it's just as dark, gritty, and realistic, in which things never go according to plan and innocent people always get hurt.

Unfortunately, after an engrossing game of cat and mouse, the conclusion is somewhat weak. Staple clichés crop up and the film goes for a crowd-pleasing finale that doesn't quite feel right. Still watchable though and a recommended stream.

Fmovies: Chad Michael Murray and Bruce Willis star in this violent thriller about a family whose home is invaded by armed criminals.

Frank, a retired sheriff who has a contentious relationship with his doctor son Rich (Murray), whose career is in tatters thanks to a malpractice suit after the death of a patient. Despite their personal difficulties, the two men live together in Frank's home, along with Rich's mother (Jessica Abrams), his wife (Lydia Hull) and their teenage daughter (Riley Wolfe Rach).

As the story begins, we're introduced to criminal siblings Mathias (Tyler Jon Olson) and Jamie (Shea Buckner), who, like so many nefarious duos, have distinctly different personalities. Mathias is the brains of the two, not wanting to hurt people if he can help it, while the hot-headed Jamie is a loose cannon, all too willing to resort to violence. His careless brutality becomes a major problem when the two rob a convenience store, with Jamie gunning down a customer and Mathias getting shot and seriously wounded by the armed clerk.

This was a pretty straight forward home invasion thriller set on a farm but with the criminals as more sympathetic villains. What kept me engaged was trying to guess how things would play out for the family and which side would come out on top in the end. The redemption story for Chad and Bruce (Frank and Rich) was the obvious central aspect. It was well done and had a nice conclusion to it that felt genuine. There's a couple violent scenes but it never crosses the line into all out gore. Worth a stream if you're into more dramatic thrillers.

Survive the Night fmovies. Films with Bruce Willis are sliding lower and lower. He was a good actor.

There are few directors in the game today who know how to weave a yarn like Matt Eskandari. Much like the two outlaw brothers speeding along the highways after their most recent heist, Eskandari goes 0 to 60 without sacrificing any nuance or plot, fitting 90 minutes of taut action on the head of a pin while your head spins with each new revelation, each heart stopping altercation.

The movie opens on a downtrodden Chad Michael Murray, he's recently lost his private practice after a wrongful death lawsuit drove him out of business. He's working at a rural clinic-his wife, father and child all having lost faith in him.

Little does he know he's unwittingly on a collision course with these brothers. After a robbery gone wrong at a local convenience store, Mathias is struck by a bullet in the leg. Knowing they're on the wrong side of the law, they seek out a doctor under special circumstances.

Leaving the clinic, Chad is followed home and ambushed upon arrival. The brothers lay siege upon the house and demand treatment.

I won't spoil the next phase of the film. There are so many layers to this thriller. Familial bonds stretched and strained, the distances one is willing to go for love. The ambiguities of good and evil, light and dark, how necessity and circumstance dictate so much more than we're willing to admit. Eskandari doesn't just serve you a classic, edge-of-your-seat joyride, he plumbs the deepest depths of the human experience, turning a mirror on his audience and forcing them to ask the deeper questions. What would you do for a dying loved one, how do you rebuild yourself after tragedy, and can you put aside your fears to survive the night?

A taut family thriller set in one house. A simple story about a father/son and two brothers. Sometimes the simplest ideas can be very effective and produce great thrills because the script knows the boundaries and generates thrills by reminding us all the time that we are stuck within those boundaries. The two bad guys here are throughly vivid in their performances. Their imperfections give them a more realistic unpredictable sinister-ism than the typical scare movie villain with a mask.

It takes awhile to get started, but once it does, the suspense and mystery is undeniable. The soundtrack dictates a suspense atmosphere very adequately, and the actors are quite good (though no crazy standouts). The story, even clichéd, is still interesting and suspenseful. Worth a watch!