Single-setting horror films almost always make for a fascinating watch. Films like Buried, Cube and Frozen force their directors to make the most of their sparse surroundings, usually with a limited budget. In these films, the locales are practically their own characters. Executed poorly, and these films risk putting the audience to sleep. More and more of these films are coming out of the woodwork in the pandemic era, which brings us to Alone With You, a paranoid thriller in the vein of Roman Polanski’s Repulsion that adds a welcome layer of queerness to the proceedings. However, the execution is somewhat of a mixed bag.
As makeup artist Charlie (Emily Bennett) painstakingly prepares a romantic homecoming for her girlfriend Simone (Emma Myles, Orange is the New Black) in their Brooklyn apartment, she is interrupted by a jarring call from her religious mother (Barbara Crampton, Re-Animator, You’re Next) with the news that her grandmother has passed away. After enduring several of her mother’s microaggressions, Charlie becomes trapped in her apartment with no way out. The digital clocks have all been erased and the windows are covered in a dark material, blocking her view of the outside world. Oh, and there’s a mysterious voice coming out of her air vent.
Bennet pulls triple duty here, co-writing and co-directing Alone With You with Justin Brooks in their feature debut. Filmed during the pandemic lockdown, Alone With You takes place almost entirely in Charlie and Simone’s apartment, with the occasional flashback to a deserted beach, where we see Charlie in moments of distress. Interior single-setting thrillers like this almost always depend on a sense of claustrophobia, and Alone With You succeeds at this in fits and starts. They’re fighting a losing battle with the setting, as the apartment isn’t really that claustrophobic (it’s two stories), but Bennett and Brooks use the camera in a way that makes the space feel confined. A standout sequence in a dark, cramped room filled with mannequins is when the film is at its most unsettling. Unfortunately, this tension isn’t sustained throughout the duration of the film.
While Bennett is present in every scene of the film, she does occasionally gets to share the screen with other people on, well, other screens (this is a COVID-shot film, after all). Brief FaceTime calls with her mother and best friend Thea (Dora Madison, VFW) are peppered throughout, but Bennett is the focus here. She is tasked with carrying the film by herself and she is more than up to the task. The script, on the other hand, struggles to maintain suspense throughout its admittedly brief 83-minute runtime, more focused on delaying a third act reveal instead of building tension.
It’s not that that the aforementioned revelation is the problem, but rather that it’s made painfully obvious if you’re paying attention (and especially so if you know this particular sub-genre). When the reveal finally comes, one can’t help but feel a bit disappointed. Alone With You would have worked better had it opened with said reveal and moved on from there, working as a character study through a horror lens, but sadly that’s not the film we have.
Adding extra layers to the film is the queer aspect, and it’s this aspect that makes Alone With You worth a watch. The film doesn’t delve too much into Charlie’s backstory, but some viewers will put the pieces of the puzzle together simply based on minute details incorporated into the dialogue. Charlie’s mother uses certain trigger words and phrases that speak volumes about the person Charlie is today (referring to her lifestyle as her “choice,” calling Simone her “roommate,” etc.). I, as a queer viewer, know the harsh toll these words can take on someone’s psyche. I also know why Charlie has become co-dependent in her relationship and doesn’t have many friends that she can call her own. The film doesn’t do much in the way of addressing these things, though, and that can make the film’s character work seem half-baked at times. It’s a nice effort, but it’s unfortunate that the film seems content with simply letting the audience do most of the work.
Alone With You is a film in which the idea behind it is more interesting than film itself, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth checking out. It’s a promising debut feature for Bennett and Brooks, and while the idea is there, the execution leaves something to be desired.
