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Troubled young people often play key roles in scary movies—their trouble-making ways often getting them into even more trouble. And in Villains, a couple of small-time young criminals find themselves stuck in the middle of nowhere, dealing with an unexpectedly dangerous middle-class couple.
Villains goes on a crime spree with Mickey and Jules (Bill Skarsgård and Maika Monroe), a couple of amateur crooks who have been robbing their way from one gas station to another as they travel to Florida to start a new life. When their car runs out of gas on a quiet country road, they’re lucky to find a house nearby—one that might have a car that they can steal. But after breaking into the house, they uncover a dark secret there—one that owners George and Gloria (Jeffrey Donovan and Kyra Sedgwick) are determined to keep secret.
This, of course, is where this creepy comic thriller takes its twist. These small-time crooks may talk big as they’re stealing money from the register at a gas station, but things change when they find themselves facing off against George and Gloria—a couple seemingly from a different place, a different life, even a completely different movie. And, really, it’s the characters who give the film its entertainment value.
George and Gloria appear to be the kind of people who are respected members of their community. They live in a nice house, they dress well, and they speak well. And while Gloria’s tendency to carry around a “baby” who’s actually a porcelain doll might throw some people off, they’re probably seen as simply eccentric and nothing more.
When Mickey and Jules see the house, they think nothing of it—aside from the fact that it’s their solution to their problem. But then they discover what’s hidden inside the house, and they’re faced with a new dilemma: do they make a run for it or do something about what they’ve seen? And their decisions put them right in the middle of a dangerous—and absolutely peculiar—situation.
Unfortunately, though, the thrills here aren’t as gripping and terrifying as you might be expecting. It isn’t outrageously funny, either. Instead, it’s strange and eerie and just plain bizarre. It’s a less than memorable film—one that just doesn’t seem to go far enough—but the characters will keep audiences entertained.
Fall may be a time for slashers and cheap scares—for things that go bump in the night—but Villains isn’t really that style. Its quirky cast is definitely its main draw—but don’t expect it to become a new scary movie favorite.
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