In 2016, a British thriller entitled The Ones Below was released, though it originally first screened at the Toronto Film Festival the previous year. While it did sweep under the radar, there is a good chance that this film will go on to be a cult classic in the near future. As for what I think, while it did leave me horrified the first time watching it, I will admit that it isn't without its flaws. That being said, what does make the film intriguing to watch is how it tackles the frustrating anxieties of early motherhood, and subverts these themes with paranoia.The film revolves around a married couple named Kate and Justin who have recently had a baby. However, when new neighbors named Theresa and Jon have moved into the flat beneath theirs, tensions begin to rise with their friendship regarding said newborn. Writer/director David Farr succeeds very well at showcasing the hormones and emotions of a mother during a time like this. Although if you may be ecstatic that you've made a human being of your own, it doesn't necessarily mean you automatically know what you're doing in a situation where your life could be at risk. In addition, given Kate and Theresa's friendship, Farr manages to make even the simplest conversations feel innocent albeit awkward and unsettling.With two suspicious neighbors comes idiosyncratic character traits, and compared to the more seemingly light hearted Theresa, Jon is more abrupt, making Kate and Justin's interactions with them become all the more disturbing. In fact, after the baby Billy is born, odd occurrences and disturbing noises keep on arising, which nearly drive the couple nuts: from car honks, to muffled baby monitor sounds, to even a cat slinking underfoot. With tense moments like these, there are definite comparisons to be made with Rosemary's Baby, let alone by the subject matter and the lean and brisk tone. Not to mention, it's great to see a horror movie nowadays without a single jump scare, or even gore for that matter; nice change in age.In terms of negatives, while the twist is very well structured and horrifying, the climax does drag on at points to get there, and after a while it does become a little too obvious what the outcome will be. Also, even during the film's second act, Theresa and Jon's intent becomes pretty obvious if not inevitable, and even with all the stakes that occur, the narrative really starts to reveal how straightforward it really is. Nonetheless, I still recommend The Ones Below for its unsettling atmosphere, subversive mix of parenthood and paranoia, and its traumatic twist that will give you trust issues for the rest of your life. The truth is that there are plenty of people out there who will end up causing you suffering for the sickest of reasons, and this film understands just how risky raising a child can really be.

When you have a movie that is almost an open book to read (and that's without having seen any trailer), you do wonder how will they pull it off. The invitation was or rather is an example, that even if you have seen the trailer, it does hold on to the excitement and the tension. Something this movie can not do over the entire time.Still it's not a bad example of a thriller. It does have the acting talent at hand and even almost achieves to get away with the usual "come on, you should know better" we may utter at the expense of the characters on screen. So depending on your patience and what you think of certain character motivated decisions, the ending will have an impact - or not. And that will clearly be visible in your rating of this movie ...

You need a good level of patience to get through this film and it can be incredibly temping to switch off. The first half of the film is painfully slow and any sort of plot developments take an eternity to arrive. For a thriller, it takes a while to do much thrilling.The film is, however, very eerie and menacing, and teases us with 'clues' that something is not quite right. As it draws to a close, the pace picks up and the film comes into its own, with a disturbing and extremely dark ending.Overall, whilst it takes a while to get going, the viewer is rewarded with an absorbing storyline that keeps you guessing until the end.

Character buildup. For most of the movie. Too bad they are so two dimensional it hurts, some drastic change of behavior is supposed to be intriguing when it's just a welcomed announcement that things are actually moving towards the ending, which is obvious right from the start.Don't miss the blatant, obnoxious plot device near the middle, or you might actually get surprised by some detail at the end. The Hand That Rocks The Cradle even had that more subtly, in addition with a decently paced script. Which is another crappy movie, but fairly entertaining for its time.Acting isn't bad, until daddy throws his fit, but the plot is bad, predictable, and dare I say, unimaginative. A TV movie from the 80's.