Because no one would suspect a stubborn blind girl, right?
A blind woman in a big house, all alone. Stop me if you've heard this premise before. Of course, you have! Audery Hepburn, 1967, right? The home invasion thriller was built upon those bones, yet See For Me brings something new to the experience with the help of a modern day app and a wee bit of deceit folded into its crust.
Well-executed, elaborately staged, and visually exciting, Randall Okita’s See For Me damn near reinvents the home invasion thriller with a well-baked movie that is never a disappointment when it comes to suspense and characterization. This cat-and-mouse chiller, as three robbers go against one blind person, is intelligently made and absolutely delivers when it comes to the staging and handling of suspense as a post-modern mansion becomes GROUND ZERO for terror.
Sophie, a young blind woman, house-sitting at a secluded mansion, finds herself under invasion by thieves seeking a hidden safe. Her only means of defense: a new app called “See For Me”. It connects her to a volunteer across the country who helps her survive by seeing on her behalf. Sophie is connected to Kelly, an army veteran who spends her days playing first-person shooter games. Sophie is forced to learn that if she’s going to survive the night, she’ll need all the help she can get, but is anything as it seems?!
Atmospheric and firing on all its cylinders from beginning to end, See For Me is an engaging experience when it comes to home invasion flicks. Even the exposition is handled smoothly. You’ll notice this fact from the very beginning as you watch Sophie go about packing. It is obvious Sophie, a former champion skier, is craving independence, but this is a movie where she must learn to trust others . . . in spite of herself. She tells her concerned mother throughout the opening that she’s “got it”, but does she really? Certainly not on her own, which is how a no-nonsense operator, played by Jessica Parker Kennedy, gets involved.
The film is helped mightily by the involvement of Skyler Davenport who absolutely delivers as Sophie, the stubborn and untrusting protagonist. She’s no peach and, as we find out, often takes items from the places she sits for and posts them for sale on Ebay. Coupled with the spellbinding cinematography from Jordan Oram and Jackson Parrell, her flawed character - as written by Adam Yorke and Tommy Gushue - is in over her head when she finds herself having to rely on a new app, called “See For Me”, and matching wits with three thieves who have descended into the secluded mansion she is currently house-sitting in.
See For Me raises the bar of this sug-genre in horror. This is a thriller which honors the home invasion flicks gone before it - Wait Until Dark, Don’t Breathe, etc - who have protagonists with certain challenges, but thanks to its twists and turns, plays upon our expectations of the genre and delivers a rousing finale that will leave viewers speechless as they gaze out across a field of white. Pay close attention to this one, folks.
Originally filmed in the waning hours before the pandemic and pushed back by necessity, See For Me will finally be available in Theaters, Digital Platforms and VOD This Friday January 7th by IFC Midnight.
There’s a new definition for SNOWBLIND and See For Me knows what it is. Don’t miss this atmospheric shocker.
MPAA Rating: Unrated.
Runtime: 92 mins
Director: Randall Okita
Writer: Adam Yorke; Tommy Gushue
Cast: Skyler Davenport; Kim Coates; Jessica Parker Kennedy
Genre: Mystery | Crime
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Distributor: IFC Midnight
Official Site: https://www.thehustle.movie/
Release Date: January 7, 2021
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
Synopsis: SEE FOR ME is a home-invasion thriller with a blind protagonist - starring visually impaired actor Skyler Davenport in their feature film debut - connected to a new phone app as her only way to survive. An engrossing, nail-biting and entertaining as hell game of cat-and-mouse.
