Home invasion horror/thrillers have been a staple of the genre for decades upon decades. Some of the terrifying moments in the film are most effective when the audience feels a level of discomfort as our home is where we are most relaxed.
Any entry about home invasion needs to set itself apart from and in a similar fashion to Mike Flanagan’s 2016’s Hush. See for Me surpasses expectations and traditional tropes by offering up an original fresh take on this oversaturated subgenre.
See for Me tells the story of Sophie (Skyler Davenport), a once highly successful skier, but blindness has cut her once-promising career short. That said, her career being taken away from her has led to resentment in Sophie, but she intends to make things work on her own. Sophie takes on a cat-sitting job at a secluded mansion and goes to extremes to hide her blindness from the owner to show she is capable. While housesitting, three thieves break in, not realizing anyone is home. Sophie’s only means of defense and evasion comes from a phone app, See For Me, where an avid gamer, Kelly (Jessica Parker Kennedy), on the other side is her set of eyes throughout the tormenting experience.
While Director Randall Okita uses a familiar home invasion setup, Kelly and Sophie’s conversations guide the film’s most tense moments. While Sophie’s blindness enhances the suspense, it’s not a crutch that Okita uses to push forward his story. The actual deterrent to Sophie is her stubbornness to accept any assistance, which is seen in her first interaction with Kelly as Sophie locks herself out of the house before the events take place that evening. This stubbornness creates intriguing chemistry between Sophie and Kelly.
One of Okita’s best choices was making Kelly an avid gamer. The film turns into a “live-action first-person shooter,” which is seen through Jackson Parrell and Jordan Oram’s cinematography. Along with that, the lodge Sophie is cat-sitting is turned into a character and maze of horror.
Okita and his team set the atmospheric stage. It’s Skyler Davenport’s performance that stands out. Davenport, a visually impaired actor makes her film debut here. She has quite the problematic chore of maintaining fear and tension throughout, and she nails it. Another aspect of Davenport’s performance that works for me is that Sophie is not the cookie-cutter-perfect protagonist. She is a flawed lead that makes questionable choices throughout the film.
Unfortunately, the thieves themselves are not much to be intimidated by. While the aspect of strangers invading your home is fearful on its own, these thieves aren’t quite menacing and the overall motive for the invasion falls a bit flat. Ultimately, it doesn’t reinvent the wheel when it comes to the antagonists.
Despite that, See for Me is a simple story done right as the film blends in the home invasion while also a character examination that ultimately has Sophie work through her inner demons and doubts. In an era where many horror/thriller fans are looking for a fresh take, See for Me steps up to the plate with an engaging entry in the genre.
