Locked – Movie Review (3/5)

LOCKED is a new horror thriller with a claustrophobic premise and starring Bill Skarsgård and Anthony Hopkins. Somewhat familiar psychological thriller but with a few new twists. Check it out in theaters. Read our full Locked (2025) movie review here!

LOCKED is a claustrophobic horror thriller out in theaters. For most of the movie’s 95-minute runtime, only Bill Skarsgård is on the screen. Fortunately, he’s the kind of actor who can easily carry a movie.

Of course, it doesn’t hurt that we have the voice of Anthony Hopkins to join him in these scenes where he’s alone. And yes, we do get to actually see the great Anthony Hopkins as well. You’ll just have to be patient and, trust me, you’ll be entertained all the way through.

Continue reading our Locked (2025) movie review below. Find it in US theaters from March 21, 2025.

Have you learned your lesson yet?

Eddie (Bill Skarsgård) is a deadbeat dad with his heart in the right place. This kind of character isn’t very innovative, but in this story, we’re fully supposed to recognize that he’s an idiot creating his own mess.

He’s a good guy, so we can root for him, but he is never without fault in getting into trouble. This includes the serious trouble he finds himself in now. He’s managed to get into a gorgeous luxury SUV only to realize that it’s a trap.

Obviously, he didn’t know it was a trap, but he wanted to steal the car (or, at the very least, what was in the car), so he’s hardly innocent.

WANT MORE BILL SKARSGÅRD?

Be sure to check out the Netflix limited series Clark where he has the title role >

Unfortunately for Eddie, the car is actually a deadly trap set by William (Anthony Hopkins). This man is a doctor by profession and has had his car stolen one time too many. The police never manage to do much, so now William is going after some justice.

Well, okay, it’s more about vengeance really. Not over anyone specific but merely the next idiot who tries to steal his car. Now Eddie must fight to escape or just survive the trap, and William has the power to control everything about the car.

Many horror fans will probably recognize the Anthony Hopkins character as a sort of “Jigsaw“-type. Of course, with Jigsaw (from the Saw horror movie franchise), the point was to teach someone a lesson.

In Locked (2025), it seems more about revenge and entertainment. Sure, he wants to teach Eddie a lesson, but he doesn’t seem interested in letting him go.

Is Bill Skarsgård a Scream King?

I love pretty much everything Bill Skarsgård has done. Not all the movies are amazing, necessarily, but he always is. Also, he is the most brilliant chameleon. I know you can say this about most actors, but he can really change his look and persona more than most.

We’ve seen Bill Skarsgård star as a mute in Boy Kills World, almost unrecognizable as Pennywise in the IT movies, and completely unrecognizable as the title character in Nosferatu.

I just love that he’s doing so many (in fact mostly) genre movies, so I get to watch him and share my fondness for this amazing Swede. Apart from the aforementioned, he also starred in the terrifying horror movie  Barbarian (2022) and the dark horror-comedy Villains (2019).

The latter was alongside another horror icon, Maika Monroe of It Follows and Longlegs, which leads me to wonder; If all these amazing female actors doing horror movies are Scream Queens, is Bill Skarsgård actually a Scream King?

I, for one, think he has earned that moniker.

Starring alongside Anthony “Hannibal Lecter” Hopkins in Locked doesn’t hurt either. Basically, Locked is Pennywise vs Hannibal Lecter in terms of iconic horror characters and the actors who have made them famous. No shade meant to Tim Curry (obviously!).

Watch Locked in US theaters

Locked comes from director David Yarovesky, who previously directed Nightbooks (2021), Brightburn (2019), and the 2014 horror movie The Hive. The script is by Michael Arlen Ross and, having worked as the editor of Wrong Turn (2003), he knows horror.

So does the producer of Locked (2025), the horror master Sam Raimi, who has gifted the world of horror with the Evil Dead franchise, Drag Me to Hell, and the upcoming Send Help.

Having watched Trunk and The Girl in the Trunk in recent years, it felt a little familiar. Then again, those movies were about someone (okay, women) trapped in the trunk of a car. In Locked, Bill Skarsgård’s character is trapped inside a luxury car.

Also, this is far from the only difference, but I don’t want to give away too much here. I can, however, say that he will have to go through an awful lot. From being cold and hot to electrocuted. A lot!

If you’re a fan of oddly relatable psychological horror thrillers, then be sure to check out this one in theaters.

Locked is out in Theaters Only from March 21, 2025.

Details

Director: David Yarovesky
Writer: Michael Arlen Ross
Cast: Bill Skarsgård, Anthony Hopkins