You’re Next is a 2013 horror film written by Simon Barrett and directed by Adam Wingard. It stars Sharni Vinson and has an approximate running time of 94 minutes. It is being distributed by Lionsgate.
If I thought my editor would let me get away with it, this review would have just been the following:
You’re Next is the best horror film you’ll see this year. Probably next year, too. We’ll take the rest of the decade a year at a time.
Unfortunately, he and most of the people that read this would probably wish for me to tell you why I feel this way. I’ll do that briefly, but then get right back to telling you to see this movie. You’re Next actually premiered in 2011, but didn’t get a wide release until now for some reason. That’s a damn shame. You’re Next was original, fun and exactly what I was hoping for. It was so good that I’m already making plans to see it again. I don’t want to give anything away, but rest assured that it’s probably not what you’re expecting. The trailers that I saw made it seem like another generic home invasion movie. It’s not. It’s more than that and I couldn’t have been happier. The Purge had an opportunity to turn the home invasion premise upside down and be really cool, but it failed miserably. You’re Next not only made a tired (and boring) premise and made it fun, but it set the bar so high that they should probably never make a home invasion movie again.
Sharni Vinson dominates this movie and she’s an absolute delight. If that girl doesn’t end up landing a ton more roles it’ll be a travesty. For fans of the genre, you’ll recognize AJ Bowen from his work in other horror films like Chillerama, Rites of Spring, Hatchet II and The House of the Devil. AJ doesn’t disappoint and he gives a solid performance as he always does. A nice little bonus is that we get an on-screen appearance of the writer and director of The House of the Devil and The Innkeepers, Ti West (both of which I highly recommend).
You’re Next is the movie equivalent of buying a candy bar in a vending machine and having a second one fall out. Go see this movie. It needs to make money so Simon Barrett and Adam Wingard can keep making movies for me to lose my mind over.
Keep it creepy,
Mike
