Windfall: Film Review
With a cast comprised of Jesse Plemons, Lily Collins, and Jason Segel, I couldn’t resist checking out Charlie McDowell‘s new home invasion thriller Windfall.
The film is almost entirely shot at a luxury house in Ojai, California. A wealthy CEO (Plemons) and his wife (Collins) go to their holiday home for the weekend and enter the property as it’s being robbed by a man, credited as Nobody (Segel). He holds them hostage until the CEO’s assistant can drop off $500,000 in cash the following evening.
I really liked this premise – it is simple but had a lot of potential for thrills. Unfortunately, Windfall isn’t particularly thrilling and is more of a slow-burning drama about the characters learning to live in each other’s pockets for more than 24 hours. Not an awful lot happens but I wasn’t bored. I liked learning little details about these characters (we don’t get much backstory), seeing their differences in class and wealth, and observing the cracks appearing in their marriage.
In the last 15-20 minutes of the 92-minute movie, things really do start happening. But they feel at odds with what has come before and like they were added to make it exciting even when they don’t really track. How the only person of colour in the cast is used didn’t sit right with me. Plus, the actions of one character came out of nowhere and I couldn’t take them seriously because they didn’t fit with who that person is. Very silly.
After seeing Plemons barely contribute anything to Antlers and practically disappear partway through The Power of the Dog, it was nice to watch him play such a big personality. His CEO reeks of money and privilege and is used to getting his own way. It was a change of pace for him and I would like more of this. Segel does well as the inexperienced robber, who really doesn’t know what he’s doing. Collins is the middle woman; the reasonable one trying to keep the peace. Her character goes on the biggest emotional journey of the film and we learn about her the most.
I liked Windfall plenty but it ultimately doesn’t quite capitalise on the potential of its awesome concept, which is a shame.
On Netflix now