Something seems hidden below the surface of the young teenage title character in Becky. Alas, quite a bit also seems hidden from viewers — though that is certainly not the case in the gore department — in this horror thriller that sees a dating pair of single parents and their children rudely interrupted (to put it mildly) by a quartet of neo-Nazis who have just escaped from prison.
Lulu Wilson (Anabelle: Creation, Ouija: Origin of Evil, and The Haunting of Hill House series) stars as 13-year-old Becky, who is still mourning the death of her mother and is angry at her father Jeff (Joel McHale of Deliver Us from Evil and the Community comedy series) for, among other things, inviting his new girlfriend Kayla (Amanda Brugel of the Snowpiercer and The Handmaid’s Tale series) and her young son Ty (Isaiah Rockcliffe, also of The Handmaid’s Tale series) to what Becky thought was going to be a weekend alone with her dad at the family’s countryside vacation home. As Becky goes off into the woods with one of her family’s two dogs to blow off steam, the four prison escapees — led by chillingly soft-spoken yet violent Dominick (Kevin James in quite a different direction from his roles in the series The King of Queens and Paul Blart: Mall Cop) — invade the house in search of an item. As they begin torturing Jeff, Becky is conflicted about whether to turn over the item the men want or to follow her father’s command to run.
The screenplay by Nick Morris, Lane Skye, and Ruckus Skye has its titular heroine go from angst-ridden teen to survivalist-style killing machine with unexplored psychopathic tendencies in an instant while scattering puzzle pieces about Becky, her personality, and her past that seem meant to be explored in a sequel or prequel. Several points are left unanswered, which are either also meant to be dealt with in a follow-up film or — hopefully not — meant to merely be forgotten about to take a back seat to the gruesome, gory set pieces that abound.
Fans of survivalist horror, revenge horror, and action horror won’t find much in the way of new ideas here, and the old action movie/action horror trope of having video-game-like levels of baddies to work through to get to the climactic boss battle is in full play, with a bit of a deviation. Becky does offer solidly entertaining moments, though, and codirectors Cary Murnion and Jonathan Milott (Cooties and Bushwick) are obvious students and fans of genre films, directing with gusto and efficiency.
The main draw for Becky is Wilson’s bravura lead performance. She obviously has a blast with her role, and shows expertise in the many different moods with which she has a chance to stretch. She’s a talented young actress with a bright future ahead of her, and she tackles the role of Becky with aplomb. James plays his villain role in an understated manner, giving an interesting performance.
If you have an aversion to MacGuffins or details that seem to be presented as important but are either unexplained or ignored, you may want to think twice about Becky. If you are looking for escapist genre-film thrills in a well-directed and finely acted outing that also offers some startling graphic violence, Becky is certainly worth seeking out.
Becky, from Quiver Distribution, screens in theaters and at drive-ins, and is available On Digital and On Demand, from June 5.
