Come Play is a horror film written and produced by Jacob Chase. The $ 9 million budget film stars less familiar names, such as Gillian Jacobs, John Gallagher Jr., as well as child actor Azhy Robertson. Uniquely, Come Play was adapted from a short film also worked on by the filmmaker, entitled Larry. Is the debutant filmmaker able to present something new in his film?
Oliver is an autistic boy who lives with his mother and father, who work as a parking ticket attendant to meet their daily needs. Oliver cannot be separated from his cell phone, which he also uses to communicate with other people, both at home and at school. He also did not have friends and was often alone. One night, a strange thing happened when the screen of his cellphone presented a picture of a strange monster which afterwards began to disturb Oliver’s life.
This kind of horror plot is familiar to the genre. The Babadook seems like an ideal comparison for presenting the unusual relationship between mother and son, or furthermore the masterpiece film, The Shinning. Come Play, too, the core of the story presents the same thing; it’s just that the scale of the story extends slightly to the people around Oliver. The plot of the story is not much surprising, and it is not difficult to predict the direction. One segment of the horror scenes when Oliver’s colleagues spend the night at his house presented very impressively. Still, unfortunately, the development of the story does not lead to these kids. Instead, the plot gets narrower between Oliver and his mother. It’s not bad, but it feels too familiar even though the ending is very touching and we rarely find it in horror films like this.
Although not exactly fresh, the element of using gadgets to present its horror side is quite good in a few moments. The monster that can only be seen through the cellphone screen makes it easy for filmmakers to play the tension side through jump scare. This achievement is not bad for a debutant filmmaker. The three main players also played very well, especially the cast of Oliver (Robertson) and the mother (Jacobs). Unfortunately, Oliver’s friends were not explored further, cause they all played very well.
Come Play uses elements of familiar horror stories with the use of gadget elements as a medium for triggering tension, even though it doesn’t feature a lot of fresh and biting jump scare. The message of the family and the warmth of affection are still the main points like most family-horror films. Another clear point is the effect of excessive cell phone usage, which is not good for children. We have seen a lot in our daily lives, how virtual world communication is starting to replace face-to-face communication. Larry is just a manifestation of the same kind of communication that has now penetrated the young generation today. Beware.
Stay safe and Healthy!
