Director Stefano Lodovichi delivers us one of the most horrifying films of the year while also revealing his ability to create a flawless and compelling story. The Guest Room grips you immediately as the entire cast pulls off a magnificent performance. The cinematography, framing, and editing all sensationally contribute to the film’s frightening narrative while the plot will flip a switch on something you’d never expect. Stefano Lodovichi makes an impressive move of having the film entirely shot in a single location and only featuring a total of three characters. The Guest Room is a riveting and well-crafted thriller from start to finish that’ll leave viewers shocked and blindsided during the film’s final act.
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Spoiler WarningDuring a morning thunderstorm, Stella (Camilla Filippi) is at the end of her will to live as she is standing at the ledge of a window. Before she is able to jump, a stranger unexpectedly knocks at her door. Stella is greeted by a man (Guido Caprino) who claims to have booked a reservation for the guest room inside her home. After several attempts to dismiss the man, she eventually decides to let him stay for the night.
Stella immediately prepares the guest room for the man while also insisting she make him lunch. She refuses to make him lunch and decides to take a rest after having a rough evening. Confused with how the man was able to book a reservation without her knowing, Stella sends a text message and notifies her husband. After a relaxing bath, Stella walks into her kitchen and sees the man cooking his own lunch while wearing her husband’s clothes.
The man convinces Stella to have lunch with him where they have a pleasant conversation and learn more about each other. Stella reveals to the man that she and her husband are separated as they are going through severe marriage problems. Their conversation continues with everything seemingly going quite well until Stella and the man hear a knock at the front door. Stella opens the door where her husband, Sandro (Edoardo Pesce), arrives.
Extremely confused as to how the man was able to book a reservation, Sandro reveals that he took down the online advertisement for the guest room several months ago. Before they are able to ask the man more questions, the man knocks both Stella and Sandro unconscious. In the kitchen, the couple both wake up each tied to a chair with the man still inside their home. As the man sits between Stella and Sandro, he begins to demand answers while forcing them to reveal hidden secrets to each other. The scared couple tries to convince the man to let them go, but he refuses and reveals a significant photo to Stella.
In the photo, it is shown that Sandro has had another family of his own the entire time. The man then demands Sandro apologizes to Stella for everything he has done behind her back. Without even mentioning to the man about their own son, Giulio (Romeo Pellegrini), hiding upstairs in his bedroom, the man was somehow already well aware of the young boy and also knew many personal details about their family. Before the torturing goes any further, Sandro injures is able to successfully escape from his chair and attempts to leave the home. Nowhere to run and unable to go through the front door, Sandro has no choice but to run upstairs.
Not Your Usual Home Invasion Film
Instead of immediately going after Sandro, the man tells Stella that he is their son, Giulio, who happens to be the same person as the young boy hiding upstairs. Stella tries and escapes from her chair while Giulio goes upstairs to find Sandro. She successfully frees herself and runs upstairs to the young boy’s bedroom. After a failed attempt to open the bedroom door, Stella then decides to find Giulio and Sandro. She eventually finds them where she tries to kill Giulio but instead stabs him just below his shoulder.
Unbothered by his injuries, Giulio shows a video from his phone to Sandro. The brief video reveals Sandro and his second family together sometime in the distant future. Giulio tells Sandro the only way to save his family is to end his own life. Growing impatient as Sandro begins to slit his wrists, Giulio decides to suffocate him by placing a bag over his face. After Sandro is dead, Giulio becomes frustrated that he is still stuck in the past.
Contemplating for a brief moment, Giulio realizes that Stella is at fault for everything that has happened during his rough childhood. Stella runs back to the young boy’s bedroom and successfully convinces him to open the door to let her in. As Giulio tries to break down the bedroom door, Stella realizes that she and the boy are trapped. It doesn’t take her long to notice that they can actually escape through the bedroom window. As Stella tries to escape with her son, the boy becomes frightened to leave his hiding spot.
Standing on the ledge of the window, Stella decides to stay in the bedroom with her son while Giulio is still attempting to break in. She tries to comfort the young boy as much as possible before holding him tight. Showing just how much she truly loves her son, the loud banging caused by Giulio at the bedroom door suddenly stops. Stella and her son slowly exit the room only to see that Giulio from the future has disappeared.
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A Perfect Addition for the Halloween Season
Red Water Entertainment
Although the film lacks gore and bloodshed, The Guest Room is an excellent horror movie to watch. Guido Caprino turns in a fantastic performance as the deranged son from the future that’ll make you want to see more of him. There won’t be much of a backstory of how Giulio managed to time travel in the film, but that’s not the point of this story. The Guest Room contains one of the best plot twists in all of horror cinema, and it’ll be exciting to see what director Stefano Lodovichi and writers Filippo Gili and Francesco Agostini will come up with next.
The Guest House will be available on a number of digital and cable platforms, including iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, iNDemand, and DISH, starting on October 25th.
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