Story: A screenwriter travels to a remote house in Wales with his family so that he can write the sequel to his big hit film, but he begins to regret his decision after suffering from a severe case of writer's block. Based on the 2017 book of the same name by Daniel Kehlmann.
From the director of "Stir Of Echoes" (one of my favorite ghost stories) comes yet another mystery starring Kevin Bacon. This one came out of the blue for me. Saw the trailer and at worse looked like a fun movie. Decided to not read any reviews after that and to be fair that is the best way to enjoy this movie.
The first act establishes the somewhat tense relationship between Kevin Bacon & Amanda Seyfried quite well. Their age differences play a mayor role here in case you're wondering and that is one of the most interesting aspects of the story. Both give decent performances even if Mrs. Seyfried is underused. But is Mr. Bacon who pretty much carries the whole film and if not for him the whole project would've fallen apart. Avery Tiiua Essex who plays their daughter is surprisingly, not annoying. The house itself plays a central character as well, as we get to see the surroundings evolve and expand constantly. Beautiful yet creepy. I think they really took advantange of the location.
As for the mystery, I don't wanna spoil much but I'll say this: for the first hour I was intrigued because you don't understand what's really going on until the end. Unfortunately once all is said and done is a bit too late to care (mainly because the second act is a drag). There's a couple of jump-scares here and there but not much in the tension or suspense department.
YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT is decent for a one time watch if you don't have anything better to do. You can do much worse and if anything, see it for the talents involved.
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