Roost, the second film from directorAmy Redford, is all about uncomfortable moments—not just for its characters, but for the audience as well.Roostbegins with Anna (Stranger Things’Grace Van Dien), a 16-year-old who has started an online relationship with Eric (Kyle Gallner), who is close to 30. The two met on a poetry message board, and Eric warmly compares Anna and her writing to Emily Dickinson. These two discussing online poetry would be cringe on its own, but the addition of this age difference makes it even worse. These two clearly are invested in each other, but Eric pushes things a bit too far when on the morning of Anna’s 17th birthday, he drives hundreds of miles to meet her for the first time in real life—without letting her know.
Thus beginsRoost, a film whose story is expectedly unsettling, yet it’s poor decisions throughout this thriller/domestic drama/abuse story that will really get under the viewer’s skin. If the alarming decisions made by these characters don’t bother you, then the labored screenplay, unfortunate directing, and the awkward acting will make you squirm in your seat.
The first half ofRoostrevolves around how far Anna plans on going with this relationship with Eric. Sure, there are plenty of red flags, from his age, to the fact that he knew where she lived for no apparent reason, but it’s young love! (well, at least for one of them). To their credit, Van Dien and Gallner do make the audience understand why Anna would be attracted to this online stranger, whereas Eric also makes it seem like he’s not some lecherous creep, but someone who is interested in her mind, age difference be damned.
Yet in the second half,Scott Organ’s screenplay intensifies this concept further, as Anna’s mother Beth (Summer Phoenix) learns of her daughter’s new relationship and adamantly forbids these two to see each other. Beth understandably seems wary of these two, but upon meeting Eric, it becomes clear that her disapproval of this relationship has more behind it than just the age difference. It’s at this point thatRooststarts to touch on the idea of cyclical abuse, and yet, does so without really saying anything at all about the topic. Instead,Roostuses this as a tool for twists, surprises, and confrontations, none of which are all that effective or interesting.
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Organ’s script almost feels like a play, with performances that are dialed up way too high, even for this type of melodrama. When the story begins to focus on Phoenix’s Beth, that’s when the awkwardness starts to permeateRoostto a damning degree. In a film that is theoretically about how the heart wants what the heart wants, and the crazy things that people will do for love, Phoenix’s performance seems uncharacteristically cold for this film. With Van Dien and Gallner, we can feel the desire for these two to be together, but when the story centers around Beth, that passion gets sucked from the story entirely.
At the very least, Van Dien is decent at playing this teenager in love, but in over her head, and Gallner keepsRoostafloat with a performance that is unnerving in the way that the rest of this story probably should’ve been. Gallner has to walk the line between charming to the point of ignoring his creepy behavior, to a real threatening presence, and does so with sympathy and a surprising amount of compassion.
But these two performances are standouts in a film that feels clunky from the very beginning. Rarely doesRoostfeel natural or sensical, like it’s almost teetering into Lifetime Movie territory in every scene. The pacing throughout is all over the place, and characters fundamentally change on a dime. For example, Anna and Beth have an extremely close relationship in the beginning, also sharing their thoughts about Dickinson together and planning Anna’s birthday together. But once Eric is thrown into the mix, it’s as if Anna has hated Beth for years, completely closed off to her mother, who has also been her closest friend and confidant.Roostis full of moments like this that simply don’t feel genuine considering what we already know of these characters.
WhileRoostis intentionally centered around these uncomfortable moments,Roostis unintentionally an awkward and poorly handled affair that feels amateurish in its writing, directing, and with some of the performances.Roostwants to surprise the audience and get under their skin with these ideas, but instead, it just leaves a bad taste in the audience’s mouth.
