‘The Willowbrook’ Review: Let’s Be Wary of Influencers

Making movies is a hard job. There are just so many elements that need to work in proper balance, that if any of them are out of place, the entire film could fall apart. There are many films out there that are released every single year that are just shy of being amazing if not for one or a couple of elements that don’t really work together. Unfortunately, The Willowbrook is one of those films that has so many missed opportunities that it is baffling to see how it could have been released in its current state.

The Willowbrook is a film written and directed by Zach Koepp, and it stars Jessica Bishop, Erin Day, Lawrence J. Hughes, Christian Olivio, Mar Sudac, and Jay White. The film tells the story of Jordan, a young woman who just recently survived an overdose. Now, Jordan and his best friend Ace are going to a wellness retreat run by the hands of a huge and important influencer in social media. When they arrive, they realize that the retreat is not what they expected and that the influencer in charge might have a very dangerous dark side.

Like we said before, making movies is a hard business, and more often than not, movies don’t have the available resources to fulfill their visions. Some people might think that every single movie out there is done with the same tools and resources as, say, a Marvel film, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Most movies are done within very tight budgets and schedules. It is a miracle that movies are made and released, sometimes many projects don’t reach the finish line.

There are also projects just like The Willowbrook, which were released but are definitely not in the state to do so. The Willowbrook is a very strange movie. Almost every single aspect of the production seems to be part of a different movie or story. None of the elements come together as a whole, and the result is something that is quite bad. I don’t say this with the intention of being hurtful, not at all. I’m sure that everyone involved in the production gave it their all, but the result leaves much to be desired.

The premise itself is quite interesting. In a world where people seem to get their entire information from social media and the rest of the internet, being trapped in a house with a mad influencer doesn’t seem very farfetched. This premise might even lead to some very fascinating discussions on social media and how we as individuals find solace in the fact that there are people talking directly to us, even when they aren’t actually doing it. We have to be very careful. For some people, it becomes harder and harder to realize that social media is not real life.

So, while the premise could have been effective, the movie muddles everything by exploring this subject in the weirdest way possible. The characters that inhabit the movie are all quirky and odd, and very few of them feel like actual people. Lacey, our villain of the day, feels like completely like a cartoon, and it is hard to take any of her scenes seriously. The actress is really trying to make this crazy woman scary and intimidating, but it all rings quite ridiculous, and her character breaks any sense of immersion the film could have every time she appears.

The same goes for the rest of the characters. Except for Mac Sudac, in the role of Syd, the acting is quite atrocious; there is not a single actor that is not giving an off performance. It is clear that the fault doesn’t lie solely with the actors, but also with the direction. This is one of the main issues of the film. Its tone is completely inconsistent; at one moment, a scene is played out as very serious, and then something weirdly cringeworthy happens. Maybe the movie is trying to add levity to the subject, but it fails.

This last element is surely the fault of the direction, as it was not able to make scenes consistent with each other. It might be a lack of experience, some indecisiveness as to where the movie should go, or a combination of the two, but the point still remains, and the acting and the tone are all over the place. The story itself also feels incomplete. You can feel that there is at least one act is missing, everything is presented in a rushed way, and the ending is resolved just as quickly.

Visually, the movie doesn’t have the budget to build sets or acquire good locations, and so everything is done inside this house that looks anything but comfortable to make a movie in. The cinematography also feels quite amateurish, and the framing of the shots and the camera work really are way below the standard. The Willowbrook tries and fails to be suspenseful or exciting in any way. There are much better options to pass the time.

SCORE: 3/10