Intruders tells the twisting and morally ambiguous story of Anna (Beth Riesgraf), a young agoraphobic who finds herself the victim of a home invasion. However, once the trio of intruders invade her family home Anna reveals herself to be much more than the expected victim as she turns the tables on her tormentors.
What starts out as a simple cat and mouse story as Anna hides from the intruders becomes something much more interesting. This is a film that zigs where so many others would just zag and the new take is welcome and refreshing. The choice to have Anna as something other than the expected victim is also highly appreciated. Without wishing to spoil too much of the events, Anna may suffer from agoraphobia, but she’s definitely made her home a castle. Imagine if Kevin McCallister grew up obsessed with fortifying his home and you’re along the right lines for how this house is set up. There are secret passages in abundance, perfectly placed for Anna to cause her tormentors a whole load of grief.
The design of the house is pretty devious and whilst in the film it is applied in a very dark and unusual way, I can’t help but feel that, for one, a wind-in staircase would make a fantastic feature in homes everywhere. Just think of the extra floor space that you could get out of a London property…
Intruders is an example of one of those films that doesn’t have a black and white good guy / bad guy set up. It’s one of those very rare cases that offers the viewer the opportunity to see both sides and asks them to pick a side. A case can be made for Anna as the hero, but also as a villain; similarly whilst you may dislike our intruders when they first burst into the property you can’t help but feel sorry for their plight as things don’t go to plan.
The simple moral behind Intruders is to not judge a book by its cover. Anna appears frail and fearful for the opening act, but is soon dispatching her enemies in bold and brutal ways. Anna’s family house is full of twisted traps that are part The Collector, part Saw, in fact Anna would make a lovely suitor to Jigsaw. A Home Alone home invasion story with added Saw traps.
Intruders is out to buy and download from Monday 6th June. Read our exclusive interview with Martin Starr, one of the stars of the film, here.
