Review: Come Play

COME PLAY (2020)

An intriguing premise takes a tumble after the opening moments and delivers a forgettable horror film that relies on the same old, same old in a lackluster outing for all involved.

Gillian Jacobs stars as the mother of a non-verbal autistic son who falls prey to a mysterious creature using cellphones and tablets to enter the living world, attempting to take the boy away. Young Azhy Robertson is the standout for me here due to his mostly silent performance and ability to convey a range of emotion through the impressive display of facial expressions. The rest, however, will leave viewers tapping their fingers and seeing the next scenes developing from a mile away. Once you have a grasp of what is happening and how, the same scares are played over and over again. As for the creature of Larry, he is a fine creation that is reminiscent of the monster from Cloverfield, thought never quite rising to a terrifying level. Perhaps you will even feel a bit empathic towards him. 

This feels like a film that attempts to pull from those that have come before it in an attempt to cobble together an original conglomerate of horror that seeks to do something new, yet fails to do so.  Points go to the writer/director, Jacob Chase (who also helmed the short from which this is based), for his willingness to incorporate an often unrepresented population, especially at the heart of the story. Sadly, Robertson is alone on an island as the film crumbles around him and leads to an utterly uninteresting, typical ending pieced together by weak emotional ploys throughout.

While Come Play is in theaters Friday, perhaps it is best to simply not.

Rating: 2/5

Photo from Bloody Disgusting

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