See For Me – Movie Review (2/5)

SEE FOR ME is a new IFC home-invasion thriller. The concept for this one is that a blind girl is alone in the house. However, it isn’t executed as well as I would’ve hoped. Entertaining, but a bit too long. Read our full See for Me movie review here!

SEE FOR ME is a new home-invasion thriller from IFC Midnight. As always, the fact that IFC Midnight is releasing the movie means the production quality is quite impressive. Also, while home-invasion thrillers are hardly anything new, this one has a twist; The person in the house is a blind girl.

She uses an app called “See for Me”, which explains the title. However, I wish the element of using this app had been more prevalent. Certainly based on the title, in any case. And also, since the person helping via the app is portrayed wonderfully.

Continue reading our See for Me movie review below.

Home-invasions thriller with a twist

IFC Midnight’s new thriller See for Me is about a home invasion and features a blind protagonist with a new phone app as her only way to survive. An engrossing, nail-biting, and entertaining game of cat-and-mouse.

Or rather, the above was taken from some of the official PR blurps. Having watched the movie, the app is hardly her only way to survive since she’s a real kick-ass person in her own right. For the record, See for Me stars visually impaired actor Skyler Davenport which is brilliant.

Also, Skyler Davenport is non-binary and uses them/they. However, since I’m referring to the character – who identifies as a girl – in the above segment, I am using she/her.

I don’t think I’ve seen Skyler Davenport in anything before, but they certainly did a good job with this movie.

The actual story of the film left something to be desired though, which is why our rating isn’t higher.

I did, however, really enjoy seeing Jessica Parker Kennedy on my screen again. She was a key cast member of the brilliant pirate series Black Sails and in The Flash TV series. Also, she was in the horror-mystery Cam (2018) which you should definitely check out.

DON’T MISS OUT ON

Our review of Cam which also has Jessica Parker Kennedy in the cast >

In See for Me, she plays Kelly, who helps Sophie (Skyler Davenport) via the “See for Me” app. An element they could have utilized more than they did in this film.

Watch See for Me in theaters or VOD – later on, Shudder

Randall Okita (The Lockpicker) is the director of See for Me with the screenplay written by Adam Yorke and Tommy Gushue. For me, the style of the directing worked really well. The story, on the other hand, could’ve been improved upon.

There are just way too many areas where the blind girl just happens to be right where she needs to be. Once or twice is okay, but it felt like it was a regular thing. Also, she’s there to “catsit” but we don’t really see the cat that much. To be fair, Sophie (Skyler Davenport) isn’t a very likable character, so that explains some of this. Just not all of it.

Of course, as an animal lover, I probably read more into this than other viewers would. However, I did feel like we were supposed to accept the more positive attitude (or “likable” demeanor) in Sophie by the end, without having any reason to. That’s another part of the story that needed more work for me to flow with it.

Still, as a thriller See for Me is entertaining enough. Just prepare for scenes that feel a little too convenient and predictable.

SEE FOR ME is out in select Theaters, on Digital Platforms, and on VOD on January 7, 2022. It will also be added to Shudder on April 7, 2022.

Details

DIRECTOR: Randall Okita
WRITERS: Adam Yorke, Tommy Gushue
CAST: Skyler Davenport, Kim Coates, Jessica Parker Kennedy, Pascal Langdale, Joe Pingue, George Tchortov, Laura Vandervoort