Shut In (2016 film)

Shut In
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Farren Blackburn
Produced by	Ariel Zeitoun Claude Leger Christine Haebler
Written by	Christina Hodson
Starring	Naomi Watts Oliver Platt Charlie Heaton Jacob Tremblay David Cubitt Clémentine Poidatz
Music by	Nathaniel Méchaly
Cinematography	Yves Bélanger
Edited by	Baxter Maryline Monthieux
Production companies	Lava Bear Films Transfilm International Canal+ Ocs Cine+
Distributed by	EuropaCorp
Release date	11 November 2016 (2016-11-11) (United States) 30 November 2016 (2016-11-30) (France)
Running time	91 minutes[1][2]
Country	France Canada[3]
Language	English
Budget	$10 million[4]
Box office	$8.5 million[5]

Shut In (classified under the name Oppression in France) is a 2016 French-Canadian psychological thriller horror drama film directed by Farren Blackburn, written by Christina Hodson, and starring Naomi Watts, Oliver Platt, Charlie Heaton, Jacob Tremblay, David Cubitt, and Clémentine Poidatz.

The film was released in the United States on 11 November 2016 and in France on 30 November 2016, by EuropaCorp. It received negative reviews from critics, and has grossed $8 million worldwide.

Plot

Steven (Charlie Heaton), is a troubled kid being sent to boarding school. While his father, Richard Portman (Peter Outerbridge), is driving him to school, Steven and his father get into a bad argument, and the car swerves into the other lane, causing an accident.

Six months later, Richard Portman has died and Steven has become in a vegetative state. His stepmother, Mary (Naomi Watts), takes care of his every need. Mary works from home with children and adolescents as a clinical psychologist. She is informed that one of her patients, a little boy named Tom (Jacob Tremblay), who is deaf, is going to be transferred to another school in Boston, and is upset. Later, Mary discusses Steven with her therapist, Dr. Wilson (Oliver Platt). She has decided to put Steven in a home to be cared for because “Steven” is no longer there and he is just a body. She expresses guilt for sending her stepson away.

Outside, she finds Tom asleep in her car. She brings him inside and makes a call, but Tom vanishes, the front door open. She calls the police and they search for him. Doug Hart (David Cubitt), the father of one of her patients, asks her out, but Mary declines, implying that it would be unprofessional. Mary hears sounds in the house at night. One night, she sees Tom, who claps his hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming. She discusses the night’s events with Dr. Wilson, and he attributes it to parasomnia. Dr. Wilson wants to prescribe her some medication, so he sends a nurse over to her house to do some blood work.

Mary reconsiders and has dinner with Doug. Later, she finds Steven missing from his bed. She finds a small door to a crawlspace, opens it, and is grabbed from inside by two small hands. The next morning, she wakes up on the floor. Steven is back in his bed, but has scratches on his face. She gets two invitations to leave her house for the impending snow storm, one from her assistant Lucy, and another from Doug, but declines both. Dr. Wilson contacts her via Skype with her blood work results. He admonishes her because her stepson’s medication is showing up in her blood. Mary denies taking any medication and walks away without ending the call. Dr. Wilson sees Steven’s empty wheelchair, and Steven walks across the living room. The lights go out in the house and Dr. Wilson loses his computer connection to Mary.

Mary is in the basement when the lights go out. She sees Tom, and just then, Steven attacks her. She wakes up bound, gagged, and naked in the bathtub, with Steven bathing her. He tells Mary how he woke up in the hospital after the accident with her there. He didn’t move or speak so that he could relish in the attention that Mary gave him. He believes that for six months they were happy together just the two of them; until Tom came.

It turns out that Tom is living in the crawlspace in Mary's home. Tom saw Steven moving around, so Steven tried to “deal with him,” but before he could, Tom escaped into the crawlspace. Steven blocked him in there, hoping he would starve to death. Mary really did see Tom every time he appeared. Steven was keeping her medicated with his medicine so he could walk around at night, increasing her medication since Tom has been there. Steven leaves to take care of Tom. Mary unties herself and throws up the medication. Dr. Wilson drives to Mary’s house, but wrecks his car on the way. Mary finds both Steven and Tom in the basement, and learns that Steven killed his father on purpose. She locks Steven in the basement as Tom escapes.

Tom and Mary hide in a closet. Steven breaks out and searches for them. Dr. Wilson arrives and Steven stabs him. Mary tries to leave and discovers Doug’s dead body in the snow. Before dying, Dr. Wilson, advises Mary to play along with Steven's delusion so she can save herself and Tom. Steven has nailed all of the windows and doors shut, so Mary breaks a skylight and Tom climbs out. Steven catches Mary and she plays along with him until she is able to escape. She opens one of the doors just as Steven wakes up. They run to the lake with Steven in pursuit. Steven knocks Tom into the freezing water, and begins to drown him. Mary grabs the hammer Steven threw down and strikes him on the head, knocking him into the water and killing him. She pulls Tom out of the water and the two embrace.

Later, Mary and Tom are seen driving to the Child and Adoption center, implying Mary is adopting Tom. As the two walk toward the building the screen cuts to credits.

Cast

• Naomi Watts as Mary Portman
• Oliver Platt as Dr. Wilson
• Charlie Heaton as Steven Portman
• David Cubitt as Doug Hart
• Jacob Tremblay as Tom Patterson
• Clémentine Poidatz as Lucy
• Crystal Balint as Grace
• Alex Braunstein as Aaron Hart
• Peter Outerbridge as Richard Portman

Production

On November 5, 2014, it was announced that EuropaCorp had set Farren Blackburn to direct Shut In, a psychological thriller based on the 2012 Black List script by Christina Hodson.^[6] EuropaCorp financed, distributed worldwide and co-produced the film with Lava Bear Films.^[6] Naomi Watts was set to play the lead role.^[6] On March 18, 2015, Oliver Platt, Charlie Heaton, David Cubitt, Jacob Tremblay, and Clementine Poidatz were added to the cast of the film.^[7]

Filming

Filming began in mid-March 2015 in Canada, as actress Watts was spotted on March 15 during filming in Sutton, Quebec.^[8] Filming took place in the Eastern Townships of Quebec before the production moved to Vancouver, British Columbia.^[8]

Release

In March 2015, EuropaCorp set the film for a February 19, 2016 release.^[9] On December 15, 2015, the release date was pushed back to June 17, 2016. In February 2016, the release date was pushed back again to September 9, 2016. In May 2016, the release date was pushed back again to November 11, 2016.^[10]

Box office

Shut In was released alongside Arrival and Almost Christmas, and was expected to gross around $6 million from 2,058 theaters in its opening weekend.^[11] It ended up grossing $3.7 million, finishing seventh at the box office.^[12]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 8%, based on 38 reviews, with an average rating of 3.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Fatally undermined by a clichéd, confused plot and a total absence of thrills, Shut In wastes its talented cast – and viewers' time."^[13] On Metacritic, the film has a score 25 out of 100, based on 14 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".^[14] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C" on an A+ to F scale.^[15]

Naomi Watts was nominated for Worst Actress at the 37th Golden Raspberry Awards, for both Shut In and her role in The Divergent Series: Allegiant.

References

External links

• Shut In on IMDb