The Boy Behind The Door co-writer/directors David Charbonier and Justin Powell are back with a new high octane pregnancy thriller, Push (2024).
It’s hard not to be reminded of New French Extremity title Inside (2007) while watching Push, though that’s not a knock against the new film. If anything, it’s a compliment because both films manage to do a lot with a little: they’re both intimate two-handers that pit one character against another in a single setting over the course of one night, augmented by superb direction and committed performances.
Push is about Natalie Flores (Alicia Sanz), a pregnant realtor who is recovering from a devastating loss. In the early scenes of the film, it is revealed that Natalie came to Northern Michigan from Spain with an American boyfriend Matt (David Alexander Flinn), who was then killed in a car accident. Isolated and cut off from her support network, Natalie is determined to prove to everyone, including herself, that she can make this bad situation work.
Her main obstacle? The Marquez residence, a palatial home (that’s maybe haunted) that she intends to sell despite its ghostly, macabre reputation.
Like most good horror films that are set principally in a single location, the house itself is as much a character as Natalie and the sadistic killer referred to in the credits solely as The Client (Raúl Castillo). He arrives out of the blue after a long Open House with no other prospective buyers, at which point Push quickly turns into a home invasion thriller wherein Natalie tries to keep the killer out while also seeking an escape for herself and her unborn child.
There are a few caveats: it’s an exceedingly simple premise and the focus on two main adversarial characters over one night doesn’t allow for a great deal of of character development. With that said, however, both Sanz and Caustillo are excellent; while their performances are mostly physical and the dialogue is minimal, the two actors sell the desperation, fear and violence with ease.
It doesn’t hurt that Charbonier and Powell direct the film with expert precision. In addition to roaming shots that help to establish the geography of the house, the co-directors regularly employ long takes that build and amplify the tension. Push gets a ton of mileage out of audiences’ anticipation of when someone or something will pop up; the fact that Charbonier and Powell are judicious with their jump scares only makes the cat and mouse action more intense because the scares are less obvious.
Of course the film isn’t entirely composed of Natalie vs The Client. Like Inside, there are police officers like Officer Grant (Justin Marcel McManus) and Officer Scaringe (Lincoln Hand), as well as a mechanic named Guy (Gore Abrams) who arrives to try and lend a hand. But for the most part, the narrative is focused on Natalie as she checks on doors, arms herself, seeks an exit and flees from danger. This leads to no shortage of great set pieces (nearly all of which are foreshadowed early in the film, then expertly paid off), including a bit with an old-timey elevator, a creepy tunnel with inconsistent lighting, and – my favourite – a looming open window.
While most of the narrative and character beats of Push will be familiar, they’re handled with such expertise by Charbonier and Powell that it hardly matters. The film isn’t breaking new ground, but it is so confident and well-made that Push is easy to recommend.
Plus: a horror movie with a pregnant woman? You know that baby’s gotta come out at the most inopportune time! That’s always fodder for a great horror movie. 3.5/5
Push does not currently have distribution or a release date.