Don't Move-- My take on the movie with spoilers!

 

Plot: A serial killer preys on a woman and then injects her with a paralytic agent. The woman has only twenty minutes to save herself before her body shuts down.

Quick Movie Review

Backed by Sam Raimi, Don't Move is an excellent survivor thriller that will grasp your attention. Unfortunately, the story is also predictable, which is why you will never find yourself tensed even for a second. You'll root for Iris and all, but you will never sense that she is in actual danger.

Nevertheless, Don't Move is an engaging thriller that is memorable in parts.

DON'T MOVE Movie Plot

Iris wakes up one morning, gets out of bed, and goes off to the hiking trail. There, she visits a small memorial she has made for her son, who has passed away. Iris carries her son's toy boat and walks to the edge of the cliff. She is contemplating suicide when suddenly a man comes up beside her.

He tells her not to mind him but then keeps talking so that she does notice him. He introduces himself as Richard and tells her that he saw the memorial and understands what she is up to. He sits down comfortably and tells her about the time he got in an accident, totalled his car, lost his girlfriend, and ended up on a hospital bed where for a long time he was unable to move. Iris sympathises with him and is moved by his story enough to live for today, at least.

They both walk back to their cars, and Iris finds Richard's car parked too close to hers. Since he was already in his car, she could have waited for him to drive off before getting in. Instead, she squeezes in at the same time and is unable to get in.

Richard gets out and offers to help her. He has an umbrella with him that Iris finds odd. What she doesn't know is that the umbrella is a taser. Iris collapses and is dragged inside Richard's car.

When she recovers, she finds herself all tied up. In his haste, Richard forgot to check her pockets, and so Iris removes a Swiss army knife and frees herself.

A struggle ensues, and the car crashes. The two are really at it and end up falling outside. Iris threatens Richard with the knife, who then informs her that he drugged her and she has twenty minutes before she will be unable to move.

To prove his point, he shows her the syringe. Iris panics and runs away as fast as she can. She puts the timer on her watch and sprints, but after each minute, she begins to lose some mobility.

Eventually, she happens upon a stream when Richard catches up to her. She jumps in and lets herself float while Richard warns her that she won't be able to swim.  Iris floats away, and with the last of her strength, she pulls herself up on the land. She crawls up as much as she can before her body shuts down.

She is lying on the grass when she hears a lawn mower working. The man driving it has barely noticed her, and she begins to worry since she can no longer speak as well.

The lawn mower stops just next to her head, and the man gets down. He gets worried for her and rolls her over. Iris manages to communicate with the man who introduces himself as William by blinking her eyes.

William takes her inside in a wheelbarrow when he hears a knock on the door. Iris blinks furiously, and William gets on guard.

He opens the door, and sure enough, it is Richard with a cut on his forehead. He makes up some story about losing his wife and that he needs help. William tells him to stay put and goes inside to get the landline to call for help. Richard appears behind him and pretends to be in so much pain.

William tells him to go outside, but Richard feigns dizziness and sits down on the couch. He goes on about how much he wants to find his wife, and he is so anxious about it. William decides to call the emergency number. Iris is laying hidden near the curtains and blinds, watching the whole thing.

After William continues with his threats, Richard begins to sob and tells him how his wife has a mental problem and goes catatonic. William buys the story and Iris panics.

He says his name is Andrew and his wife's name is Chloe. He also tells William that he lost his phone and needs his help.

But at that very moment, Richard... or Rather Andrew's phone begins to ring. William now knows that Andrew has been lying to him. He tries to call the police but Andrew attacks him. The two get into a fight that ends with William being murdered.

Andrew keeps searching for Iris but doesn't find her, so he sets the cabin on fire. He is sitting in his car, and it doesn't start.

Iris gets some mobility in her fingers and pulls the blind cord to catch his attention.

Andrew finds her, picks her up, and takes her to his car.

Soon enough, the car runs out of fuel, and he goes to a gas station. Since the machine isn't working, he has to go pay inside. Iris uses this opportunity to open her seat belt, but she is still not able to open the door or call for help.

A boy comes over to her, and she tries to talk to him but can't. His mother comes and takes him away. Andrew returns and gives her a disappointed look.

On the way, Andrew receives a call from his daughter who tells him about getting a good report card. She wants to celebrate and come up to the cabin. Andrew then speaks to his wife and tells her that he wants his alone time and she shouldn't be intruding. She doesn't care about his bachelor weekend and says she can miss it this one time. Andrew relents and invites her over. But clearly, he is pissed off because that cabin was where he was going to take Iris.

He then has to go back to get something from his car.

Unfortunately for him, a police officer shows up and asks what is going on. Things look bad. Iris can barely move and talk, and Andrew's car looks totalled. Andrew makes up a lie about Iris being drunk and driving the car, which crashed.

The police officer isn't completely convinced and goes to Iris who manages to whisper, help me.

Andrew uses the hook attachment on William's truck, which he has been driving all this time, and bashes the officer with it. Then he throws him back into his car and lights it on fire. Apparently, Andrew likes to light everything on fire.

After he gets into his car, Iris wants to know why he didn't let her die. She was going to kill herself anyway. He tells her she was at the right place at the wrong time.

He mocks her for wanting to die but then doing everything she can to save herself. Iris reaches out to stab him with a syringe, but she is unable to push it in. Andrew laughs at her and then disposes of the syringe. He tells her that while she is gaining mobility again, it is uncoordinated.

Iris calls him a monster, and that is how he could have treated her that way when he went through the same when he was in the hospital.

DON'T MOVE Ending Explained with Spoilers

Andrew takes her outside and puts her in a boat. As he starts it, Iris notices a knife hanging off his belt.     Iris then tricks him to distract him and manages to stab him in the neck. She then uses his gun to shoot him, and he falls overboard. Unfortunately, Iris also managed to make holes in the boat, which begins to sink.

She lets herself go down with the boat and then we see her son's boat floating to the surface. In the next second, Iris comes up too, now fully able to use her muscles.

She swims to the surface and is happy to be alive. When she spots Andrew on the other side, she goes up to him and says thank you. She does owe him for helping her discover the meaning of life.

She walks away while Andrew dies.

My Take On the Movie

We never find out how Andrew's family will react when they discover his secret career as a serial killer.

DON'T MOVE has a neat little message about life, but the story could have used some livening up.

Scare Scale: 3/5