Retro Review: The Guest

Writer's Note: In honor of actress Maika Monroe's birthday, here's a look at the movie that first introduced me to her (a brief cameo in The Bling Ring notwithstanding), The Guest. For my money, it's still the best thing she ever did, though I haven't seen some of her more recent efforts, admittedly.

This review was first published on September 10th, 2015, on Facebook. 

Now, this is a quirky one! The Guest is the latest from the warped mind of Adam Wingard, best-known for the superlative home invasion horror thriller You’re Next, and it bodes well for his impending remake of the excellent foreign flick I Saw the Devil.

Full disclosure: Wingard is from Alabama, where I currently live, and we know each other somewhat from the film festival circuit and are Facebook friends, but I’ll try not to let that affect my judgment here.

It revolves around a mysterious man who shows up out of nowhere on the doorstep of Laura Peterson (Sheila Kelley, taking a break from all that pole dancing- see Dancing at the Blue Iguana and her S Factor line of exercise videos), a grieving mother who lost her son in the War in the Middle East. 


He claims to have known her son, and she invites him in, where he confirms it via a photo she has up on her mantle. He says his name is David (Dan Stevens, A Walk Among the Tombstones), and that he was with her son when he died and promised to pass along his love to them.

David eventually ends up staying with Laura and her family for a spell when he reveals he doesn’t have a place to stay at the moment and no immediate plans, and in no time he acclimates himself into each of their lives.

He bonds with the father, Spencer (Leland Orser, the Taken films) over booze and woes about getting ahead in life, helps son Luke (Brendan Meyer, Girl vs. Monster) deal with some high school bullies, and offers up advice to daughter Anna (Maika Monroe, It Follows) on her guy troubles.

It all seems to be going fine, but there’s something a bit off about David, who may not be who he claims to be, picture or no picture. Anna definitely picks up on it, and starts to look into David, which brings his presence to the attention of the mysterious military type Major Carver (Lance Reddick, Lost, Fringe), who comes looking for David. Things go from there, in fairly unpredictable fashion.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from The Guest, as Wingard’s typical wheelhouse is horror, and this isn’t really horror, per se. Yes, there are some horrific moments, and it’s definitely gory at times, but I wouldn’t go so far as to put it in the horror category, which is exactly why I think Wingard is a great choice for Devil, which itself almost defies categorization.

My advice to those thinking about seeing it would be: the less you know, the better, so you might want to skip the trailer, which, as per usual, reveals way more than it should. I’d say if you’re a fan of 80’s and early 90’s era action movies, particularly of the exploitation variety, then you’ve come to the right place. 

Star Stevens pretty much nails the stoic, shadowy drifter that’s cool, but just this side of douchey, a la the antiheroes of the original Assault on Precinct 13 or Death Wish or even your given Steven Seagal movie from his heyday.

Likewise, Monroe, building on the goodwill of her solid heroine in It Follows, turns in an even better performance here, with a damn sight better movie to go with it. Her character might not have the skills of David, but she’s got the smarts to give him a run for his money.

All in all, it’s well worth seeing, and I’d say even worth buying if this sort of thing is in your wheelhouse. There’s some solid bonus features on the Blu-Ray, including an engaging commentary from Wingard and writer Simon Barrett, who also worked together on You’re Next. 

There’s also some deleted scenes which shed a bit more light on who David is and what’s up with him, but I kind of like the more ambiguous nature of the way he is in the film, personally, so I think they were wisely cut out. 

That said, Monroe fans will definitely want to watch certain deleted scenes, if only for some scantily-clad bits of her and her boyfriend, that were reallocated in a better way in the film. 😍😛

This one is absolutely a keeper, in my book, even though I may be somewhat biased. It's different, it's unpredictable and it's a whole lot of fun for action fans. It also shows that Wingard is capable of more than just horror, which is good to know. Check it out!