Windfall (2022) is a thriller film directed by Charlie McDowell and stars Lily Collins, Jason Segel and Jesse Plemons. The movie starts with a robber (Jason Segel) robbing a house that belongs to a billionaire (Jesse Plemons) and his wife (Lily Collins). Windfall was released on 18 March 2022 on Netflix.
Streaming on Netflix
Windfall Review
The first few minutes of Windfall will already give you an overall feel of the film. It is a suspense film that presents itself like one made in the 1980s. The intro music is loud and in the face, screaming horror and mystery, like one from The Shining, while the loudness of the background music is used to accompany points of suspense throughout the show.
The story is based on three unnamed characters- a burglar (Jason Segel), a tech billionaire CEO (Jesse Plemons) and his wife (Lily Collins)- in a housing estate. The burglar attempted to rob the vacation house, but the couple dropped by for a surprise vacation, only to find the robber there. The plot goes through a slow burn that climaxes in the last 15 min of the film while going through multiple themes such as self identity, income gaps and sacrifices. In particular, Windfall raises a lot of social issues that we are seeing from the income disparity between different classes of individuals, and how it affected their views on life and people.
Although slow burns are not every audience’s cup of tea, Windfall ensures to engage the audience with a bit of dark humor and amazing performances from its stellar cast. With only 90 min run time, audience’s would feel frustration, anger, worry and relief for the different characters during the different parts of the film, making Windfall a very solid noir. This speaks to both the writing and the cast’s ability to induce such emotions despite being in a limited set. Besides this, the film also rewards those who are patient enough to go through the slow pace of the film to reach the climax. In the end, the character development of the wife, in particular, gave the audiences a rush of satisfaction at the end of the film, despite the ending being extremely dark and fairly inconclusive.
Verdict
6.5 / 10
One of the better slow burners that pays homage to the 1980s style of film score.
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