The Rental

Delivering solid thrills and an ugly portrait of disintegrating relationships, The Rental is a clever meld of drama and horror.

Billed as an indie slasher, it works even better as a wickedly unsympathetic chamber piece.

It's pretty basic boilerplate, scary-movie stuff, with tropes and tricks that have already been extensively satirised elsewhere.

The Rental has a familiar plot with familiar story beats, but it is so well-paced and deliberate, and its cast so good, that even though you know where it's going, it's still immensely satisfying to take the journey.

Confidently weaves real world anxieties with all the twisted, sinister possibilities the horror genre affords.

Stranded-in-a-cabin tropes tend to be a lot of fun. So it's easy to get on board with the premise of The Rental, especially given the front-loaded tension between its two couples.

If “success” means getting the viewers interested in a sequel, then mission accomplished. However, sacrificing the first movie of a possible saga to just introduce its main horror element doesn’t quite work as Dave Franco might have thought.

The Rental has a killer view but not enough character.

The film gets it right where it counts most – it’s entertaining, it keeps you locked in, and it ends in a fun and unexpected place.

Franco has crafted a memorable experience, with a few genuine shocks and bluntly violent moments that demonstrate The Rental means business.