A Brilliant Conflict

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Josh (Stephen Moyer) and Alice (Rachel Blanchard) are getting a divorce. They opt to sell their home on their own during a buyer's market. Alice lives in the house. David does not. Alice gets the feeling someone is in her house. This was a well shot good creepy scene with the proper music. You could sense her anxiety as she calls around for her girlfriend. Unfortunately it doesn't last and the next thing we know Alice is a prisoner in her own home...during open house. David (Brian Geraghty) is our clean cut intruder who looks like a prospective buyer. Based on early events and conversations, things are a bit strange as a mystery develops. Who are these people? What do they want? Why this house and couple?Bad girl Tricia Helfer as Lila provides the token eye candy. Brian Geraghty has got that Anthony Perkins creep working for him.F-bombs, no nudity, dry humping, women kissing

Thank God I watched it on Netflix so I could forward it every 10 seconds because it was long and kind of stupid and it had a very stupid ending... didn't like it at all

There is absolutely nothing of value in this movie. First of all, forget about the tension or suspense or mystery - because there is none of that. The plot is so hollow that you could seriously not care less what happens next - except looking forward to the end credits. For an R-rated film about sex and murder both of those things are suspiciously missing. Sure people are killed, but they are killed with cutaway shots and splashes of raspberry jam against the wall or window. And the "sex" scenes make old episodes of The Love Boat look x-rated. I guess it was writer Andrew Paquin's sister who got him the chance to make this horrid screenplay into a movie. And if she bankrolled it too, then it's probably his last. Well, it's probably is last anyway.I can usually even enjoy watching bad movies... but not this one.

I think I'm right in saying that this is director/writer Andrew Paquin's first major outing and I'm sad to say, he's in the wrong job.There are some good to great performances here, but it's only the acting that really saves it. The characters are shallowly written, I really didn't care too much about any of them. Anna Paquin hardly gets a line, but Brian Geraghty is suitably 'disturbed'.The film is carried very much by the evil Tricia Helfer, who alone might swing the male vote in tight and revealing costumes.The plot sways from predictable to juvenile and never really raises it's game at all. The 'gore' is of a strawberry-jam level, with coy cut-aways that don't even put it in the 'Slasher' genre.The last ten minutes were interesting but by then I was looking for a knife myself.... What were the producers thinking?3/10.