‘Intrusion’ Review: Marshall-Green Tries His Best with Generic Script
By Daniel Rester
The underrated Logan Marshall-Green, who has done excellent work in films like The Invitation (2015) and Upgrade (2018), attempts to give some life to the Netflix picture Intrusion. It’s a home invasion thriller/marriage drama/missing person mystery scripted by Chris Sparling and directed by Adam Salky. While the actor does some interesting work here and provides nuance to his character, he isn’t enough to defeat the ultra-predictable writing and so-so execution running throughout Intrusion.
Marshall-Green stars as Henry Parsons, a designer living with his wife Meera (Freida Pinto, looking bored most of the time) in their slick new home in the New Mexico desert. Their marriage has faced some stumbling blocks as Meera has gone through some vaguely-drawn cancer issues.
One night while on a date, the Parsons’ house is broken into. They try to move on, but then the place is broken into again. At this point Meera starts to investigate the situation on her own. She is especially intrigued by the burglars being related to a missing woman.
Intrusion starts out okay enough, providing a few tense moments in the early home invasion scenes; one wide shot involving flashlights is especially thrilling. The film also looks polished throughout in terms of framing and editing, while the main home setting is attractive, modern, and open. One can never get enough of New Mexico skylines at dusk either.
Salky’s film loses steam early on though as the main twist becomes predictable by minute 20. Meera’s connect-the-dots investigation afterward is routine and lacks thematic depth and story surprises. There’s even a cliche scene where a character is searching through secretive computer files while another character is approaching the room. When the film isn’t trying to generate suspense with such easy moments, it’s almost coming across as offensive as rich woman Meera thinks she is in danger just by searching for clues in a lower-class trailer park.
When the final act finally shows up where one expects it to, there are some intense moments to match those in the beginning of the film. Marshall-Green does fine throughout but gets to shine most in this act. As layers are revealed for Henry, the actor gives energy to the character. Marshall-Green’s performance, the beginning and end thrills, and the glossy look of the picture aren’t enough up against the overall flat execution though.
My Grade: 5/10 (letter grade equivalent: C)
Running Time: 1h 32min
