We Need to Do Something is on digital 25 October from Blue Finch Film Releasing.
Synopsis
After Melissa and her family seek shelter from a powerful storm in the most secure room of their house, they become trapped. Family tensions quickly bubble to the surface, but with a father barely able to conceal his rage and the realisation that this is no ordinary storm, a creeping sense of dread slowly envelops them. With no sign of rescue, hours turn to days and Melissa comes to realise that she and her girlfriend Amy’s occult interests might have something to do with the horrors that threaten to tear her family, and the entire world, apart.
Review
We Need to Do Something marks the debut of director Sean King O’Grady in the realm of narrative cinema, having only previously produced the 2016 documentary Land Grab. The film, which is a one-location dramatic thriller with supernatural horror elements, marks a solid if not flawed fiction debut that at least demonstrates various signs of great potential.
The entirety of the present timeline unfolds in the bathroom of the family’s home, as they look to seek shelter from an incoming storm only to become trapped inside when a tree collapses on the adjoining master bedroom and blocks the bathroom door.
As the story progresses, familial tensions are uncovered and explored, whilst the threat of an unseen, implied and supposedly supernatural presence lingers beyond the walls. The film definitely feels cramped, confined and at times anxiety inducing. On this front, some unique and immersive cinematography, courtesy of Jean-Philippe Bernier, helps to develop this intoxicating and claustrophobic atmosphere. The visuals often serve as effective manifestations of a given character’s mindset, from swirling camera movements reflecting an uneasy derangement to extreme closeups to heighten the claustrophobia or to elicit powerful reaction shots.
Furthermore, the editor Shane Patrick Ford provides some great work, such as smash cuts and innovative montages to successfully communicate the extensive passages of time and the increasing hysteria and eventual capitulation of the family.
There is some genuinely stunning acting to be found here. Sierra McCormick is arguably the strongest of the cast in her role as teenage protagonist Melissa, providing a multi-faceted performance that demonstrates both resolute strength but also an innocent vulnerability. Vinessa Shaw and Pat Healy are also impressive as broken parental couple Diane and Robert, the latter of whom gives arguably the most theatrical, showy and physically demanding act as an alcoholic and abusive man whose intensity inevitably reaches boiling point. 11-year old John James Cronin meanwhile offers a charming, naive and surprisingly potent turn as young son Bobby. Ozzy Osbourne also makes an enjoyable cameo in a minor vocal role!
The actors compel a wide variety of emotional responses. Across the 97-minute runtime, the viewer is almost guaranteed to feel anger and resentment, empathy and sorrow, contempt and disgust, fear and unease.
However, unfortunately, one is likely to find themselves also feeling frustrated and perhaps more often than they would like. Some of the dialogue can feel wobbly in places and the ending will most certainly not work for everyone. The ambiguity of the finale may miss the mark, particularly because even by the end, exactly what the two possibilities of the reality of the situation are remain relatively unclear.
Various flashback footage to Melissa’s relationship with a girl named Amy is a clever means of escape from the simple bathroom setting, although the showcased narrative during those moments feels simultaneously underdeveloped yet excessive in nature.
The film struggles to find its footing in places. One of the central takeaways of the film is undoubtedly that there is enough horror in the real world for there to be no need for supernatural occurrences and entities in order to be terrified. Indeed, the movie is at its most effective when it operates as an intense thriller that serves as a deconstruction and decomposition of its central dysfunctional family. But instead, the film feels like it is trying too hard to shoehorn in random horror elements and these are ultimately quite hit and miss.
Verdict
Beneath the surface, there lies a truly amazing film waiting to be uncovered. By contrast, the final product is a competently produced and well acted single location family thriller with some claustrophobic cinematography, hit and miss horror aspects, and interesting, albeit half-baked subtexts.
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