Out Now. Momentum. Certificate: 15.
What is it about residences on the margins of communities? House On The Edge Of The Park, Last House On The Left: buildings decorated with trauma, violent reprisals cushioned within their walls and hidden away from polite society. As Springsteen sang in Darkness On The Edge Of Town, “Everybody’s got a secret Sonny/Something that they just can’t face.”
Of course, the same applies for Ryan Jackobson (Max Theiriot), sole inhabitant of the eponymous ‘house at the end of the street’ after his parents were massacred by their daughter Carrie-Ann four years ago. When Elissa (Jennifer Lawrence) moves next door with her mother, a tentative relationship blossoms and she takes it upon herself to find out why her neighbour is so guarded. With the body of his sister having never been discovered, local hearsay has it that she roams the woods, but a well-stocked larder, tampons in the toilet, and an extensive basement complex suggest that Ryan may not be alone. Loyal sibling or is there a frisson of Fritzl to his behaviour?