The Guest is a nail-biting thriller, which pits suspense, psychological depth, and dark comedy to perfection to leave the viewer hanging at the edge of their seats. The story of the movie is of a mysterious soldier that visits the home of the Petersons claiming to have been a friend of his fallen comrade, as his arrival turns out however, some strange and fatal events start to emerge. The depth of layers of deception and motifs that are hard to unravel, attributes a tense and dreadful mood to the narrative wherein it is easy to mix up the good and the bad. The tone of the film shifts between a chilling suspense and wry witty, keeping the movie less predictable and the spectator on his or her toes.
Aesthetically, The Guest is a slick and modern film that supports the events it depicts but underlines the eeriness as well. The contrasts, shadows, and queasy close-ups are sharp so that the audience feels paranoia and danger. The fight sequences are well-coordinated especially the fights and the haunted house battle at the school that is grotesque and intense as well. The actors are very strong, with the main one in particular, who is very composed and who plays the sinister role very well. There are other characters who serve as supporting characters like the Petersons or the military, who introduce another dimension to the world by coloring the story with moral ambiguity, making it more complex.
The theme that appealed to me the most in the film was identity, trauma, the evil of military experiments creating such deep and venomous roots. The interpersonal psychological manipulation and instability of trust, which was the central commentary of the story, also resonated with a strange mix of discomfort and attraction. The action-emotional nature of the climax of the film made me extremely excited and pensive about how narrow is a path between being a hero and a beast. All in all, the Guest is an intelligent, cool-looking and much-needed thriller that gives the visceral jolt of thrills along with the intellectual stimulation of ideas worth considering and is a film well-worth seeking out by those who enjoy tense films and prefer them character-driven.
