The Intruder (2019 film)

The Intruder
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Deon Taylor
Written by	David Loughery
Produced by	Deon Taylor Roxanne Avent Mark Burg Brad Kaplan Jonathan Schwartz
Starring	Michael Ealy Meagan Good Joseph Sikora Dennis Quaid
Cinematography	Daniel Pearl
Edited by	Melissa Kent
Music by	Geoff Zanelli
Production companies	Screen Gems Hidden Empire Film Group Primary Wave Entertainment
Distributed by	Sony Pictures Releasing
Release date	May 3, 2019 (2019-05-03) (United States)
Running time	102 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$8 million[1]
Box office	$40.6 million[2][1]

The Intruder is a 2019 American psychological thriller film directed by Deon Taylor and written by David Loughery. The film stars Michael Ealy and Meagan Good as a couple who buy a house in the country, only to realize its previous owner (Dennis Quaid) refuses to let it go. It was released in the United States on May 3, 2019, by Sony Pictures Releasing, received generally negative reviews from critics. It was a commercial success, grossing $40 million worldwide against its $8 million budget.

Plot[]

While Scott and Annie are surveying a Napa Valley property they are interested in, they notice a deer frolicking in the woods near them. Then, out of nowhere, a man with a rifle barges past them and kills it.

Scott and Annie Howard move into their new house in Napa Valley, but its previous owner, deer-hunter Charlie Peck, becomes obsessed with keeping an eye on the couple. Though Scott is annoyed, Annie feels sorry for him as he had told them his wife died of cancer and that he will soon be moving to Florida to live with his daughter. Scott and Annie have their friend Mike and his wife over for dinner. Mike goes outside for a smoke and senses he is being watched. He throws his cigarette on the ground. The next morning, when Mike and his wife are leaving, Mike notices a cigarette burn on the seat of his luxury car that wasn't there previously.

Charlie continues to show up unannounced, mowing the lawn and berating workers installing a security system. Mike suspects Charlie and insists Scott and Annie are being watched. Scott and Annie are unconvinced, so Mike persuades Scott to accompany him behind the house, where they see an unknown vehicle driven away.

Tensions rise between Scott and Annie due to Scott's coldness toward Charlie, and, when Annie discovers Scott met some clients at a bar, it is revealed that, before marrying Annie, he had cheated on her with a client at a bar. At the bar, one of the clients kisses Scott, and he realizes Annie was right to be worried. He returns home immediately but has an argument with Annie. They reconcile after they both wake in the middle of the night from a noise, and have sex on the floor, unaware Charlie is watching. A neighbor reveals to Scott that Charlie's wife killed herself with one of Charlie's shotguns. Scott asks Mike to investigate him. But Charlie has developed an obsession with Annie and begins visiting the home when Scott is gone. One morning, while Scott is out jogging, a truck runs into him from behind. This turns out to be driven by Charlie.

While in the hospital, Scott calls Mike to come and see him. When Mike turns up, Scott explains Charlie had lived with his wife Ellen and daughter Cassidy, but was deeply in debt and forced to sell the house. Charlie shows up at the house, and Annie invites him inside. Mike goes to check on her and is confronted by Charlie, who declares he has a chance to get back all he lost and must get rid of Scott. Charlie kills Mike with an axe.

Scott contacts Cassidy, who has changed her name, but she hangs up when Scott mentions her father and the house she grew up in. While Annie is unpacking groceries, Charlie lurches out at her, passionately explaining that Annie means the world to him and that they will live together forever, happily ever after. Annie keeps her cool and tells Charlie she'll discuss all this with him later but first needs to lie down because she's feeling ill. As soon as Charlie leaves the house, Annie locks all the doors, but ends up discovering Charlie's underground cellar connected to the house, where Charlie has been living and has stowed Mike's body. Meanwhile, Scott is driving home from work, and Charlie's daughter Cassidy calls Scott back and explains Charlie is a psychopath who murdered his wife after she threatened to divorce and take the house from him. Cassidy lives in Maine to be as far away from Charlie as possible, and conveys that if she were ever to see Charlie again, she would kill him. Scott frantically and repeatedly calls Annie, begging her not to open the door if Charlie shows up, not knowing it is already too late.

Back at the house an enraged Charlie knocks Annie unconscious, carries her upstairs to a bedroom, and attempts to rape her. Scott returns home and Annie regains consciousness, begins to call for help, and Charlie hogties and stuffs tissues into Annie's mouth to keep her from screaming. Scott sees signs of struggle throughout the house and sets off to find Annie and presumably Charlie. When Scott appears Charlie attacks him and throws him off a second-story balcony. Scott falls on his back, landing injured and unconscious, but manages to crawl back upstairs and witnessed Charlie both strangling Annie and professing love to her. Scott and Annie fight, stab, and overpower Charlie who staggers away to the cellar, where he fetches the shotgun that he used to murder his wife. Charlie returns to the house and starts shooting. Scott and Annie cower together in a closet, hiding from Charlie, and eventually, Scott strikes Charlie in the head with a baseball bat and seizes the rifle.

Lying on the floor bleeding, Charlie taunts Scott by saying Scott would never dare shoot him. Scott tells Annie (who has her phone in her hand) "Make the call--just make the call!" When Annie is connected to 911, she coldly informs the dispatcher: "My husband just shot an intruder." Upon hearing what Annie said, Charlie becomes horrified, realizing what's about to happen, and after Scott cocks the gun, Charlie bellows: "You don't deserve Foxglove!", to which Scott says "Go to hell" and shoots Charlie, finally killing him, as the screen goes black.

Cast[]

Production[]

In May 2018, Ealy, Good and Quaid all signed onto the project.^[3] It was then announced that the worldwide distribution rights had been acquired by Screen Gems at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, after production had been completed under the title Motivated Seller.^[4][5]

Release[]

The Intruder was released in the United States on May 3, 2019. It was previously set for an April 26, 2019 release, but was pushed back a week to separate from Avengers: Endgame.^[6] The film was released on Blu-Ray and DVD on July 30, 2019.^{[citation needed]}

Reception[]

Box office[]

The Intruder grossed $35.4 million in the United States and Canada, and $5.2 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $40.6 million, against a production budget of $8 million.^[2]

In the United States and Canada, The Intruder was released alongside Long Shot and UglyDolls, and was projected to gross $9–16 million from 2,222 theaters in its opening weekend.^[7] The film made $3.9 million on its first day, including $865,000 from Thursday night previews.^[8] It went on to debut to $11 million, finishing second, behind holdover Avengers: Endgame.^[9] The film grossed $6.6 million in its second weekend, finishing in fourth.^[10]

Critical response[]

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 33% based on 99 reviews, with an average rating of 4.3/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "The Intruder might appeal to fans of shout-at-the-screen cinema, but this thriller's ludicrous plot robs it of suspense – and undermines Dennis Quaid's suitably over-the-top performance."^[11] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 39 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews."^[12] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B–" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it 2.5 out of 5 stars and a 44% "definite recommend."^[8][9]

See also[]

• List of black films of the 2010s

References[]

External links[]

• Official website
• The Intruder at IMDb