The Reel Review
A former banker haunted by a mysterious past, his actress wife and their young daughter book a vacation getaway at a remote, contemporary-style house in Wales, where nothing is quite what it seems, in this psychological horror/mystery from writer/director David Koepp. It is very loosely based on the 2017 novel by Daniel Kehlmann.
Despite the big name cast (Kevin Bacon and Amanda Seyfried) and attempts to create a sense of foreboding with decent visuals and a creepy score, Koepp’s story about the blurring of imagination and reality is itself a blurred, confusing mess that just gets more nonsensical and annoying as it plods along. There are a lot of gaping holes in his story and lots of waiting for something big to happen – only it never really does.
Koepp is best known for a string of screenwriting hits that includes Jurassic Park, War of the Worlds and Mission Impossible. His efforts as a director, however, which include the Johnny Depp films Mortdecai and Secret Window and the 1999 Kevin Bacon horror/mystery Stir of Echoes, have all been duds, and sadly, this film continues that streak in a big way. Koepp should have left You Should Have Left alone.
REEL FACTS
• You Should Have Left was filmed at Life House, a contemporary vacation home in Llanbister, Wales that was designed and completed in 2016 by famed British architect John Pawson. It is available as a weekly vacation rental.
• Based on box office revenues of $2.3 BILLION dollars, 57-year-old, Wisconsin-born David Koepp is one of the ten most successful screenwriters of all time.
• Originally Nicholas Cage was set to star in the film.
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