Good Neighbours - DVD

Film: When shy, ever-friendly Victor (Jay Baruchel) moves into an old Montreal apartment building, he seems on the surface to fit in well with the household. He quickly befriends Spencer (Scott Speedman), who has been paralyzed since an accident, and Louise (Emily Hampshire), a cat lover. He even develops romantic feelings for Louise and is sure that his affection will be returned. But the peaceful togetherness is soon overshadowed by mutual suspicion and accusations when a series of murders that have been plaguing the neighborhood for some time claims a victim in the house as well. And indeed, it seems that each of the good neighbours has a secret and one of them may be the notorious serial killer and rapist.

Good Neighbours almost comes across as a biting satire, especially at the beginning, before the film turns into a bitterly nasty thriller in the final third. Director Jacob Tierney takes a lot of time to establish his characters. Admittedly, he doesn't exactly go about it subtly. It quickly becomes clear to the viewer that each of the neighbors has something to hide beneath the surface. But even if one could accuse the film of a certain lack of surprise, which does not even stop at the early revelation of the identity of the killer, Tierney still manages very well not to bore and even to surprise a little at the end.

This succeeds on the one hand through the coherent atmosphere created by the location and the drearily beautiful images of wintry Montreal. On the other hand, however, the good actors also help to turn the easily transparent characters into interesting ones. While Jay Baruchel plays the likeable nerd, which he has already perfected in movies like Duel of the Magicians or Too Sharp to Be True, and Scott Speedman knows how to hide his secret perfectly behind a beaming grin, Emily Hampshire is especially convincing as the somewhat neurotic, peculiar but somehow not unsympathetic Louise with her almost morbid love for house pets. Hampshire plays the role absolutely perfectly and especially in the last third of the film she is at her best.

While Good Neighbours is nowhere near as clever and original as the film would obviously like to be. But even if this makes some moments seem a bit forced and don't really work, the bottom line is that there are still enough positives to make good genre entertainment out of this quirky thriller, which guarantees an entertaining DVD evening at least for friends of the rather quiet, but still very nasty tones. Worth seeing!

Image + Sound: The clean image captures the gritty, macabre atmosphere of the story very well. In terms of sharpness, there are a few minor weaknesses in the numerous darker moments, but overall the picture quality is on a good level. The same applies to the sound, which presents itself very powerful, especially in the German dts mix. However, the sound remains rather unspectacular overall, which is why the sound is primarily dominated by dialogue and minor ambient noises. Overall, there is a decent: Good!

Extras: As bonus material, the DVD has only the trailer and other program tips of the provider to offer.

Conclusion: Good Neighbours is a quirky thriller that takes a bit to get going, but can entertain due to the wicked finale and the good actors despite minor lengths and endeavoured quirky characters. The DVD is technically well done, but the lack of bonus material is a bit disappointing. Nevertheless: for friends of black humor and thrills of a different kind despite small weaknesses well worth seeing

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp