Replica’s Movie Review

For home invasion movies, “Replicas” makes your heart pound all throughout the movie with unbelievable performances from the actors and the anticipation of disturbing scenes. The suspense-filled thriller made its Canadian premiere at Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival.

Mark, Mary and their son seek mental refuge at their cottage after the accidental death of their young daughter. Mark and Mary’s couple has evidently deteriorated since the passing of their beloved child and they are attempting to put the broken pieces back together. They meet Bobby, Jane and their son, their nearby neighbors, who invite themselves for an impromptu supper. Bobby and Jane, socially clumsy, seem to be more curious than the average neighbor, asking more and more personal questions. Once their son creates a mishap with Mark and Mary’s, they are abruptly asked to leave. The neighbors don’t take too kindly to being influenced to exit and return soon after, their twisted and depraved minds forcing Mark, Mary and their son to do things that they would have never done from their own free will, attempting to steal what they have of a life.

The main actors of the movie deliver great performances. Mark (Joshua Close; “Diary of the Dead”, “The Exorcism of Emily Rose”) and Mary (Selma Blair; The “Hellboy” movies, “The Fog”) are superb, but the true diamond of the movie is Bobby (James D’Arcy; “An American Haunting”, “Exorcist: The Beginning”). His social oddness is absolutely incredible throughout the first half of the movie and his twisted, dark side and is more stunning in the second half.

If you are expecting a gory horror movie, don’t watch it. You’ll be bloody (see what I did there?) disappointed. This is a thriller based on psychological games and pure adrenaline. I found my chest to be pressed down from stress and my heart beating in anticipation of what I was about to see. A home-invasion movie similar to “Funny Games”, yet different in the goal of the perpetrators.

“Replicas” is definitely worth watching, receiving 4 stars out of 5.