Static - Motionless - Blu-ray

Content: The death of their three-year-old son Thomas has completely thrown Jonathan (Milo Ventimiglia) and Addie (Sarah Shahi) off track. While the writer throws himself into his work out of grief, his wife tries to numb her pain with alcohol and pills. In the process, the couple drifts further and further apart. When young Rachel (Sara Paxton) knocks on their door one night in a panic, claiming she's been followed by a man in a gas mask, the situation threatens to escalate for good. For Addie is convinced that Jonathan is attracted to the attractive Rachel. But before the resulting argument can finally break out, Rachel is kidnapped from the house by three masked figures. And thus begins for the grieving couple a night of horror that demands from them all that they have left of their love and their mutual trust...

Static - Motionless is a successful home invasion thriller, which after a very worn beginning clearly picks up tension and pace. The story uses an idea that is really not new. Of course, it should not be revealed at this point which film director Todd Levin has obviously used here, because the big twist in the finale would be given away right away. But even if the individual set pieces are not exactly new and the twist at the end is not as original as the film suggests, the thriller is overall very atmospheric and over long stretches also really exciting.

But until it is so far, you have to fight as a viewer first of all through the first thirty minutes, in which actually nothing really happens. Here, it's only made clear in long, quiet sequences how much the parents are suffering from the death of their child and how far apart they have become in their grief. In the end, it does make sense that Levin took so much time to make this so clear. But for the build-up of tension, the worn beginning is rather counterproductive.

The engaging atmosphere, which is also achieved by the somewhat undercooled imagery, as well as the convincing actors help to overcome the somewhat plodding beginning. True, neither Milo Ventimiglia (Gilmore Girls, Heroes) nor Sarah Shahi (Fairly Legal) and Sara Paxton (Last House on the Left) deliver award-worthy performances. The characters are simply too one-dimensionally drawn for that, even in the script. But what these roles demand of them, the three main actors also implemented very well. From the fact that they carry the whole movie in a threesome, this is a more than satisfying performance.

When the mysterious attackers start and the terror enters the house of Jonathan and Addie, Static - Motionless becomes really exciting. Admittedly, the film is not quite in the same league as the extremely successful You`re next. Also, fans of this horror subgenre should not expect extremely hefty slasher interludes. Although it is sometimes quite violent to the point, but the gore factor is very limited here. That does not change anything about the decent tension level and the good entertainment value of the thriller. Even if Todd Levin has not necessarily expanded the genre with a new classic, he has created a small but fine psycho-thriller that can be recommended to lovers of home invasion horror. Worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: The Blu-ray's picture impresses with atmospheric colors and a good balance of contrasts and black levels. This allows the good overall sharpness to be maintained even in the darker moments. Only minor details are often swallowed up by the darkness. Overall, though, the very clean image leaves a positive overall impression, as does the atmospheric DTS HD MA 7.1 mix. While quite little happens in the first 30 minutes, there are some moments towards the end where real life comes into the surround channels. Good!

Extras: As a bonus, the Blu-ray has only the trailer for the film and other program tips from Tiberius Film to offer.

Conclusion: Static - Motionless uses no really new idea and the implementation also has some small weaknesses. Nevertheless, the mystery thriller can convince over long stretches. The directorial debut of Todd Levin is obviously striving for originality and wants to offer the audience gripping suspense with a surprising ending. Even if this only succeeds in places, a thoroughly positive overall impression remains in the end, which is further supported by the atomic-spherical staging. No masterpiece, but a convincing debut, which can be recommended to friends of more quiet mystery horror. Recommended

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp