TRIBECA 2021 | "See For Me" a Taut and Constantly Inventive Thriller
8/12 ForReel Score | 3.5/5 Stars
Imported from the snowy reaches of Canada and set in an equally frostbitten upstate New York, See For Me is a fresh take on the home invasion thriller film that gleefully contorts its genre’s tropes to exciting and heart-pumping effect. Turn the lights off. Make sure the doors are locked.
Sophie (Skyler Davenport) was a once celebrated professional skier under the age of eighteen, but being stricken with blindness diverted her aspirations and left her broken and jaded. Now in her twenties, she takes up gigs house and pet-sitting for the wealthy. This leads her to the lavish, isolated home of a recent divorcee, whose cat needs taking care of while she is on vacation, but whose fortune also attracts some unwelcome thieves of the night.
As you might expect, what unfolds is a nocturnal game of cat and mouse that sees Sophie in high-tension, compromising positions, while also finding creative workarounds for the limitations imposed by her lack of vision. One of these solutions is Sophie’s smartphone app, “See For Me”—a riff on the real world app, Be My Eyes—which pairs blind individuals with sighted volunteers to help them around everyday obstacles. When the home invaders start poking around, Sophie happens to enlist the services of army vet and avid gamer, Kelly (Jessica Parker Kennedy), who, understanding the situation better than most, assumes as her avatar Sophie herself to help Sophie first-person-shooter her way out of the situation.
There is a degree of gimmicky-ness to this premise when you put it down on paper, but director Randall Okita and screenwriters Adam Yorke and Tommy Gushue keep the story grounded and logical, avoiding shock-factor reveals and the all-too expected moments of incompetence that result in gaping plot holes. At the same time, See For Me is consistently fresh and daring. The inclusion of the “seeing eye” app is just one smart twist employed by the screenwriters on their first feature, and them veering away from horror territory in order to focus purely on thrills means anxiety-inducing moments also come with a satisfying boost of serotonin.
Working with cinematographer Jackson Parrell, director Okita assures that the thrills are delivered to maximum effect by maintaining a clear and distinct sense of place in the film’s single house setting, while also keeping us planted firmly in the protagonists shoes and maintaining a degree of ambiguity and disorientation. Okita’s direction never strives to break any molds, but it is thoroughly engaging, and clearly demonstrates the director’s love for the genre. Whereas Okita’s previous feature, The Lockpicker, was overlong in its execution, See For Me is also a much more taut effort, with a coursing sense of urgency that keeps you as a viewer always on edge.
If there is a downfall to this concise approach to storytelling, though, it is the unfortunate absence of more genuine character moments. Davenport and Kennedy, while both more than adept at conveying the white-knuckle panic that the script asks of them, just are not given opportunities to explore their characters’ desires or insecurities, their wants or their true fears. Both are written with backstories that make their decisions under the circumstances believable, but neither are given moments to truly evolve or turn their fear and intuition into something defining.
Still, what See For Me accomplishes is extremely calculated; the film is always laser-focused on finding where the next thrill can come from and how it can be reshaped before it is delivered. This aim may come at a detriment to the characters, but thankfully there is some major talent to help keep us invested – especially from Davenport, who is herself a visually impaired actor.
Even if you are familiar with home invasion flicks like Don’t Breath and Hush, See For Me is a worthy entrant alongside these previous efforts, sure to satisfy both general audiences and thriller hardcores alike.
