Spare a thought for up-and-comer Jacob Tremblay. After wowing audiences with his breakout performance in Room – a breakout performance that had him largely confined to a petite space with only Brie Larson’s doting mother for company – the actor is now headed for an old and isolated abode in the bitter-cold outback for Farren Blackburn (Hammer of the Gods) thriller, Shut In.
Based on a script penned by Christina Hodson, Tremblay plays Tom, an estranged young boy who will be causing all sorts of headaches for Naomi Watts’ troubled lead. That’s Mary, a widowed child psychologist who begins to suspect that she’s being haunted by Tremblay’s disturbed foster child who went missing under her care. Compounding that feeling of dread is the fact Mary is spending her hours caring for her catatonic, wheelchair-bound stepson, played here by Stranger Things alum Charlie Heaton.
When pressed about the core mysteries underpinning Shut In, Blackburn was understandably coy, teasing viewers that appearances can be deceiving – especially in the genre of domestic thrillers. What twists and turns lie in wait? We’ll just have to wait until November to find out. For now, here are the director’s two cents: “All is not what it seems,. Mary is convinced Tom is dead and haunting her, she can hear him in the walls of her house. Tom’s a dark character. Not Batman dark. But he’s scared, has rings under his eyes and looks creepy.”
Shut In has been set for theatrical release on November 11, when Blackburn’s hair-rising thriller will open against Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi flick, Arrival.
