It's utterly predictable. It's nicely filmed and the acting is OK. Not the worst way to spend an evening, but it's a bit sad it does not try to elevate/experiment with the before seen premise of creepy/weird neighbors fucking with your life. As it is it's just a very uninvolving and mediocre watch.

** / ***** (D)

The Ones Below

The Ones Below is a well-crafted mystery thriller. It feels like a one-off extended BBC drama. Laura Birn and David Morrissey do a grand job of being eerie and weird neighbours, but Clémence Poésy's character is strangely written, with her making most encounters awkward. Whether intentional from Farr or a wrong interpretation by Poésy, either way I didn't like it and it did not resemble how real people interact. The film is not perfect; the penultimate act feels like an out-of-nowhere curve ball despite being utterly chilling, and the ending feels like it treads old ground. But overall I feel it is a capable, simmering thriller with some tremendously captured, dream-like, picturesque cinematography.

B