Imagine an episode of something as nuanced, understated and gripping as an episode of Homeland gradually turning into something as darkly humorous and comic book-esque as an episode of Dexter. Throw in some action set pieces and I think you would not be far away from what this is.
It starts out well. A mysterious man turns up at the house of his slain comrade and offers touching words to his family, winning them into his confidence one by one, though, in truth, their grief makes them easy prey. It continues to build well when he sorts out the son's high school tormentors in a way that will have you cheering. At this stage, his cover story that he cares about the family is still plausible, but he is clearly someone with the capacity for extreme violence. The acting is uniformly excellent.
However, in a bid to procure a large amount of firearms, he murders the arms dealer he is buying them from. The body count then starts to build implausibly quickly when the man who is standing in the way of the father of the family's promotion is also found conveniently dead.
The actors are excellent, as I say, but even they seem progressively unconvinced by the story when some covert government unit turns up to claim The Guest. Apparently he was part of some kind of experiment which went wrong, but details on this are very sparse.
The finale is camped up in the extreme and in the style more of an 80s B Movie. Which would make sense if the first half was anything close to that type of film, but instead you are just left scratching your head.
There are good moments, the acting is great, but don't be suckered in by the high ratings. This is not essential viewing. If you want a popcorn flick on a Saturday night this is okay, I guess, but that's all.
It starts out well. A mysterious man turns up at the house of his slain comrade and offers touching words to his family, winning them into his confidence one by one, though, in truth, their grief makes them easy prey. It continues to build well when he sorts out the son's high school tormentors in a way that will have you cheering. At this stage, his cover story that he cares about the family is still plausible, but he is clearly someone with the capacity for extreme violence. The acting is uniformly excellent.
However, in a bid to procure a large amount of firearms, he murders the arms dealer he is buying them from. The body count then starts to build implausibly quickly when the man who is standing in the way of the father of the family's promotion is also found conveniently dead.
The actors are excellent, as I say, but even they seem progressively unconvinced by the story when some covert government unit turns up to claim The Guest. Apparently he was part of some kind of experiment which went wrong, but details on this are very sparse.
The finale is camped up in the extreme and in the style more of an 80s B Movie. Which would make sense if the first half was anything close to that type of film, but instead you are just left scratching your head.
There are good moments, the acting is great, but don't be suckered in by the high ratings. This is not essential viewing. If you want a popcorn flick on a Saturday night this is okay, I guess, but that's all.