Friday, March 18, 2022

Windfall (2022)

 

Streaming Service: Netflix
Movie Name/Year: Windfall (2022)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Length: 92 minutes
Rating: R
Production/Distribution: High Frequency Entertainment, Mutressa Movies, Netflix
Director: Charlie McDowell
Writers: Justin Lader, Charlie McDowell, Jason Segel, Andrew Kevin Walker
Actors: Jason Segel, Jesse Plemons, Lily Collins, Omar Leyva
 
IMDb Blurb: A man breaks into a tech billionaire's empty vacation home, but things go sideways when the arrogant mogul and his wife arrive for a last-minute getaway.

 
Cat’s Point of View:
Windfall was both exactly what I expected; and, at the same time, took a route I didn’t see coming.
 
Fans of pure drama and nail-biting tension would be head over heels for the atmosphere that steeped this production. Windfall was a slow burn, though. If you’re into action and faster-paced thrills, this might not be something that would hold your interest.
 
I was worried that my squirrely attention level would make parts of Windfall hard to watch. Somehow, I managed to remain riveted to the screen and afraid to tear my eyes away lest I miss some sudden burst of plot that might unfold. The whole movie felt like that. It kept you on the edge of your seat, fairly holding your breath because the shit might just hit the fan in the next second.

 
Windfall took great advantage of the property they filmed on. It both illustrated the characters’ lifestyle and the disparity with their perceptions of the ‘antagonist’ intruder. I was immensely relieved that they didn’t keep everything confined to one small set of rooms. I believe this cast could have handled something like that, but it would have made it harder to swallow.
 
As I mentioned in my #18 entry in March’s Top 20 list, this is one of the rare instances that the character who would normally be ‘the antagonist’ – namely, the home invader – was someone I was actually rooting for. I was literally crossing my fingers for the thief. Jason Segel (Despicable Me, This Is the End, Dispatches from Elsewhere) really drove his character home, even within the constrained circumstances available. I appreciated the intelligence and emotion the character was afforded within the story and how Segel evoked every nuance of it.

 
I have a lot to say about the other characters and their respective actors. Unfortunately, every time I begin to write something, I found myself dangerously skirting the line with spoilers.
 
Windfall wasn’t one of those movies that I’d want to revisit at another time. While I thought it was well done, and delivered what it had advertised in the trailer, that much-prolonged tension without action or more levity to break it up is just hard for me to do. Especially once I already know what’s going to happen. The payoff would lose most of its sting on a repeat viewing.
 
All told, however, I don’t regret watching this new Netflix release at all. 


Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 64%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 73%
Metascore – 51%
Metacritic User Score – None
IMDB Score – 5.6/10
 
Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 3.5/5
 
Movie Trailer:

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