Sick Review

Streaming review

Because it takes a while for movies to be written, cast, filmed, edited, and distributed, we are just now starting to get movies focused directly on the subject of COVID. Particularly, movies focusing on how things felt in 2020 when the world was still sorting out how we could move through society in the midst of a pandemic. I am always interested in movies that use current topics to tell a familiar story, so I made sure to check out “Sick,” the newest film from John Hyams, exclusively streaming on Peacock.

Parker (Gideon Adlon) and Miri (Bethlehem Million) are two friends who are quarantining together at Parker’s remote, yet very posh family cabin. We see that while Miri is taking the precautions very seriously, Parker is playing a little more fast and loose with the CDC suggestions. As they settle in, the girls receive some strange texts, but assume that it’s Parker’s on-again, off-again boyfriend DJ (Dylan Sprayberry). But before they know it, they’re in a home invasion situation with not one, but a group of people whose motives are explained over the course of the movie and in the middle of some brutal slayings.

This is a quick wrap up of this movie because this is a very short movie, clocking in at just 83 minutes, and to give away any more of the plot is to give away the primary point of the movie. 

It’s a solid home invasion film. It has all of the jump scares that you would expect and it has all of the violence and horror you expect from a movie in this genre. 

The performances are good, if not terribly memorable. Jane Adams always turns in great performances and she is by far the bright spot in this movie, though I can’t talk much about her character without getting into spoilers. Both Adlon and Million also give us grounded performances. 

The story in this movie is interesting, particularly as home invasion movies go. This genre of horror works best, in my mind, anyway, when there is a good motivation for the character doing the hunting. This film does that well. There is a clear and interesting motive for the attack on the girls. 

What frustrated me was that when you create a compelling thought process for a villain that could almost be spun as a morally just reason (if not for all the murder), it should  have an impact on the characters who are receiving the punishment in some way. The brevity of this film kept it from really exploring that. 

I’m fine with films that don’t give me squeaky clean protagonists to root for. One of my favorite horror films, “The Cabin in the Woods”, is a prime example of a villain with relatable motives and heroes that aren’t that heroic. But even those extra ten minutes were able to develop characters enough that I connected with them. I think the right prescription for “Sick” was just a little more time.

This review originally appeared in The Dominion Post on January 21, 2023.