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Discomfort of home truths: Intrusion review

Dubai - A seemingly ‘extraneous’ intrusion into the house of a loving couple gives way to secrets and lies being uncovered on a domestic front. That’s Intrusion for you

Intrusion opened to mixed reviews in late September. A lot of reviewers felt it was underwhelming, and even a little silly. However, I was emboldened to give it a once-over for one reason. Freida Pinto. I find her gorgeous, even though I thought she was remarkably unremarkable in Slumdog Millionaire, the only other movie of hers I’ve watched.

Well, Freida looks gorgeous as ever, and plays Meera, a breast cancer survivor, married to Henry (Logan Marshall-Green). The two of them have just moved into their ‘dream house’, in a small town in New Mexico. The house has been designed and built by Henry, who claims he’s built it for Meera (because he loves her so much — but of course!), and is quite a work of (ultra-modern) art. The first thing that strikes you is how far removed the house is from civilisation: it’s literally in the back of beyond, with nothing — not even convenience stores and gas stations — within striking distance.

The second thing that strikes you is how incredibly loving and supportive Henry is of Meera. He’s on hand for any help she may need and almost second-guesses everything about her (obviously he keeps a very close watch on her every action, and obviously she’s not aware he’s this clued in), putting it down to his being overly invested given her medical history.

So far so good. But then, one evening, Meera and Henry go on a hands-free ‘date night’, into town. When they return, they discover someone broke into their house while they were away. The house has been trashed; only a laptop and their mobile phones have been taken. The intruders, clearly, were after some sort of information.

Henry installs a security system now, but another intrusion takes place, this time while the two are at home. It’s at this point that Meera sees Henry owns a gun — something she didn’t have any idea about, even though she’s dated Henry from the time they were in college. He uses the gun in “self-defence” and kills one of the intruders, while the others escape.

Next, the film moves to the investigation: who were these people and why they would be interested in stealing (what looks like) information from Meera and Henry? The matter takes on a life of its own with the case of a missing girl being linked to the group of intruders.

But more to the context, the intrusion suddenly makes Meera realise how little she knows about the man she’s married to; she gets suspicious on her own terms: what — and why — were the intruders after information from their house? As she goes into a tailspin and starts scrounging for information about Henry, there’s also another aspect to it: is she overthinking — or even imagining stuff about a seemingly ‘perfect’ man?

This is a predictable thriller with some genuine moments of chills and (short-lived) twists. You know immediately Intrusion has been a quickie in the making, no great thought, no memorable lines, bordering-on-the-superfluous acting chops — and yet there is something glossy and sinister about it.

It’s perhaps the feeling of being “trapped” in settings and with people you are most comfortable with — in this case, your dream house and your spouse. In a post-Covid world, with paranoia far from over, that hits home.

sushmita@khaleejtimes.com