"DO NOT DISTURB" IS A TENSE, TRIPPY AND TERRIFYING DISPLAY OF A TOXIC RELATIONSHIP
The “phone test” is a pretty good way to judge how engaged you are with a particular film. In a theater, it is easier to minimize the distraction of our mobile devices because we are instructed to “please silence them”, even if not everybody does. At home, it is far easier to fail the “phone test” because the surroundings offer the convenience of being able to pause and return at will. If you’re still wondering what the “phone test” is, here’s a brief explainer. When watching a movie at home, turn your phone on silent and (ideally) face down. Once the movie starts, try to track at what point you want to or actually do reach for and check your phone. The removal of the social pressure to not disturb others in the theater is a moot point when you’re watching at home. This isn’t a scientific approach by any means, but the intent is to determine engagement based on how quickly you have the urge to check your phone. What does this have to do with the newest film from Dark Star Pictures, Do Not Disturb you ask? Read on and find out.
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
Chloe and Jack travel to Miami for their honeymoon. They decide that a peyote experience will strengthen their marriage. However, they've been given a powerful strand that awakens a desire to eat human flesh.
HOW IS IT?
The premise of Do Not Disturb harkens back to the cautionary tales that D.A.R.E. officers and similar community anti-drug pushers would tell you to scare you away from taking drugs. Some schools had the story about the kid who took too much acid and wouldn’t move because he thought he was a glass of orange juice, and if he moved, he might spill. For folks above a certain age no matter the tall tale you were told about drugs, there is a really good chance it was bullshit. Do Not Disturb takes that hyperbole that we were spoon-fed in school and makes it real, and even better, it reaches a perfect harmony of parody and provocation that is as fiendish as it is funny.
Chloe (KIMBERLY LAFERRIERE) and Jack (ROGAN CHRISTOPHER) are a couple you’ve seen before. Maybe you are friends with them, maybe you’ve seen them out at a bar, but they are that couple that love to hate each other. Seemingly incompatible, yet surprisingly inseparable they seem to always be on the wrong wavelength. They ooze tension that sucks the air out of a room, and the volatility of their relationship varies so much and so fast you might suffer whiplash. The reason you know this couple is because of how authentically these characters are portrayed by the actors. Both Kimberly and Rogan deliver performances that are so convincing you might wonder if they are actually a couple, and that matters here because we spend most of the 90-odd minutes with the two of them and often just them. Considering how visceral and real these two feel, it helps to naturally escalate tension that derives entirely from the toxicity of their relationship. These characters will frustrate you with their decisions, and that only draws you in even more as their lucidity reaches dangerous heights.
One of the most challenging things to portray in film is the effect that psychedelic drugs have on the user. Movies like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas offer more comically absurd renditions of “tripping”, and to Ari Aster’s credit, Midsommar did have a more grounded understanding of how psilocybin mushrooms feel. Do Not Disturb puts these interpretations to shame, and if you’ve ever tried something close to what Chloe and Jack do you’ll instantly feel seen by how genuine the portrayal of time blindness meets bliss with heaps of confusion and anxiety. However, the tripping is more than just a release for this couple. It is an awakening that challenges their roles in their relationship and ultimately allows them to embrace their true selves. This is where Do Not Disturb really ratchets up the tension as we are watching them increasingly lose their grip on reality and recognize the consequences of their blackouts. Without going into spoilers, what is so admirable about Do Not Disturb is that it takes a rather simple premise and layers on top of it so much emotion and madness that adeptly walks a fine line between horror and dark humor. It will grip you with stylish editing and some really visceral violence, but what makes all of that so much better are the captivating performances and storytelling.
Remember the “phone test” from the start? Well, the reason it is mentioned is because Do Not Disturb is one of only a handful of films this year that passed it with flying colors.
LAST RITES
Do Not Disturb delivers a trippy, horrific, and occasionally hilarious portrait of two people eating away the remnants of their relationship. The pace is perfect and the suspense is prolonged by the two stellar leads and the amount of depth buried beneath all of the blood.
THE GORY DETAILS
Directed By
Written By
Starring
Where can you watch it?
DO NOT DISTURB is in theaters November 17 and on VOD November 21.
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