A young family buys a new house with hopes of a fresh start. The house turns out to hold disturbing secrets, and horror ensues. This is nothing if not a familiar premise for anyone with a passing interest in film, or the scary movie genre. So the question becomes, what does The Disappointments Room have to offer us in terms of new ideas? Sadly, the answer is not evident from the trailer that has just been released.
Starring Kate Beckinsale, the film is directed by D.J Caruso (Disturbia) – which lends some impressive credentials to The Disappointments Room. But it is the fact that the screenplay was written by Wentworth Miller that makes this project potentially interesting.
Best known for his work in front of the camera – primarily on the TV drama Prison Break – Miller created a stir in Hollywood when he turned in the script for the movie that would become the critically acclaimed 2013 film, Stoker. There are clearly similarities in tone between that first writing venture and this, as well as in the nature of the leading character.
For more, consult the plot summary below:
“The psychological thriller follows a woman (Beckinsale) who moves into a new house with her 5-year-old son only to discover a secret room within the attic where unimaginable horrors are accidentally unlocked.”
Working around the age-old idea that there is nothing scarier than the human mind, we appear to have another horror film that centres around a woman of questionable sanity. She is uncovering worrying things in the new family home, but wait – she apparently has a history of mental illness, so perhaps it’s all in her head? Again, this is neither groundbreaking nor innovative in narrative terms, so we are left to believe that the real matter of interest lies behind that locked door. What, in fact, is in The Disappointments Room, and why is it not on the floor plans? Find out on September 9th.