I See You (DVD)

I See You is a 2019 American horror film directed by Adam Randall from a screenplay by Devon Graye. The film stars Helen Hunt, Jon Tenney, and Judah Lewis.

I See You premiered at the 2019 SXSW Film Festival and was released on December 6, 2019, to generally positive reviews.

Plot

Ten-year-old Justin Whitter is abducted while riding his bicycle through a park, one month after another boy, Michael King, went missing. Greg Harper is made lead detective on the case, assisted by Detective Spitzky. A green pocket knife is found at the scene, connecting the crime to a series of previous abductions, committed by a man named Cole Gordon fifteen years prior. Meanwhile, Greg s family life is in ruins after his wife Jackie had an affair. Their only child, Connor remains deeply resentful towards her since he learned of the affair.

Greg and Spitzky are called in by the chief. She informs them that Cole is pushing for a mistrial in light of the new abductions. They go to speak with Braun, one of Cole s two surviving victims, but he becomes hysterical when he sees them. Mysterious events start to occur in the Harper house; silverware goes missing, televisions turn on by themself, pictures are removed from their frames, and a repairman tells Jackie he was let in by her daughter.

Jackie is visited by her former lover, Todd. Intent on continuing the affair later, she hides him in the basement while she takes Connor to school. While in the basement, Todd is attacked by an unknown assailant. Jackie returns home to find him dead. She panics, assuming Connor has killed him. She and Greg bury his body.

Back at home, Connor hears a clanging noise coming from the utility room, and discovers the missing silverware wrapped in clothing in the washing machine. He then receives a bizarre message on his computer as a person wearing a frog mask appears behind him. Greg and Jackie return home to find Connor tied up in the bathtub, with a green pocket knife next to him. Jackie takes Connor to the hospital while Greg searches the house.

The film then jumps back in time and reveals that the mysterious happenings in the house were being caused by two homeless people, Mindy and Alec, who have been phrogging (hiding in houses unbeknownst to the owners) in the Harper home. Mindy is experienced and tries to keep a low profile so that she never gets caught, while Alec decides he wants to make the family believe they are going insane. However, Mindy is accidentally seen by the repairman while exploring the house; she is the girl he believed was Jackie s daughter. Mindy witnessed Greg killing Todd and went to alert Alec, only to see him putting Connor in the bathtub. The couple argue and Alec accidentally pushed her down the stairs, rendering her unconscious. Alec then hides her in Greg s car. After Jackie left to take Connor to the hospital, Greg left with his car, unknowingly taking Mindy with him.

Mindy awakens in the trunk of the car. She searches Greg s bag and finds multiple green pocket knives and Justin s shirt, revealing Greg is the kidnapper. When he parks up in the forest, Mindy sneaks out and tries to call 911 to no avail. She comes across an old trailer where Justin and Michael are trapped in makeshift closets. As she tries to free them, Greg ambushes her and takes her back to his house before shooting her dead. Alec attacks Greg with the axe, disarming him. Greg knocks Alec out then stabs himself to make it seem like he s been attacked.

Alec recovers consciousness and grabs Greg s gun. When Alec steps into the light without a mask, Greg recognizes him. Alec kills Greg before he can explain himself. Spitzky arrives and shoots Alec in the shoulder. Alec says Spitzky s name and Spitzky also recognizes him. Jackie and Connor arrive home to find it swarming with police. Spitzky finds the bag of evidence in Greg s car and the two boys are rescued from the trailer.

Flashbacks show a younger Alec and Braun encountering Greg, implying that Alec was the other surviving child. Present day Alec is carried into an ambulance.

Cast

• Helen Hunt as Jackie Harper
• Jon Tenney as Greg Harper
• Owen Teague as Alec
• Judah Lewis as Connor Harper
• Libe Barer as Mindy
• Gregory Alan Williams as Spitzky
• Erika Alexander as Lieutenant Moriah Davis
• Allison King as Officer Grace Caleb
• Adam Kern as Window Repairman
• Jeremy Gladen as Tommy Braun
• Teri Clark as Mrs. Braun
• Nicole Forester as Mrs. Whitter

Sam Trammell makes an uncredited appearance as Todd.

Production

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2019)

Helen Hunt joined the cast in June 2017. Principal photography took place in May 2018 around Chagrin Falls, Cleveland and Lakewood, Ohio.

Release

The film had its world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival, in the Midnighters section, on March 13, 2019. It was released in theaters by Saban Films on December 6, 2019, and on VOD by Cinema Epoch Video on December 3, 2019.

Reception

Box office

I See You grossed $1.1 million worldwide, against a production budget of $5 million.

Critical response

The film holds a 79% approval rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on 43 reviews, and an average rating of 6.4/10. The site s consensus reads: I See You gets tripped up on its own narrative contortions, but a solid cast and an effective blend of scares and suspense make this slow-building mystery worth watching. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 65 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating generally favorable reviews .

Dennis Harvey in Variety described the film as an eerie suspense exercise that starts out looking like a supernatural tale — one of several viewer presumptions this cleverly engineered narrative eventually pulls the rug out from under. Stephen Dalton of The Hollywood Reporter stated, I See You is such a finely crafted exercise in slow-burn suspense that its loopy plot contortions only seem absurd in retrospect, and elaborated, actor turned first-time screenwriter Devon Graye s tricksy script keeps audiences on their toes with all this multi-viewpoint misdirection, so much so that most will be caught off-guard by further major reveals.

Condition

New

Publisher

Paramount

Published Date

2020

Age Group

Adult

Rating MPA

R

Recording Studio

Paramount

Format

DVD

Brand

Paramount-Sds

Amazon ASIN

B082JKSW4G

UPC / EAN

032429334367

Size

7.5" x 5.25" x .50"

Year

2019

ReleaseDate

2019-12-10

RuntimeMins

98

RuntimeStr

1h 38min

Awards

Awards, 1 win & 1 nomination

Directors

Adam Randall

Writers

Devon Graye

Stars

Helen Hunt, Jon Tenney, Owen Teague

Produced by

James Atherton, Jordan Bayer, Eric Fischer, David Gendron, Sean Gowrie, Mark Andrew Hamer, Tom Harberd, Ben Hecht, Phil Hunt, Matt Leipzig, Jan Pace, Compton Ross, Elliot Ross, Fenella Ross, Robert Ruggeri, Chris Sablan, Jason Salzman, Bill Schultz, Matt Waldeck, Viviana Zarragoitia

Music by

William Arcane

Cinematography by

Philipp Blaubach

Film Editing by

Jeff Castelluccio

Casting By

Nancy Nayor

Production Design by

Carmen Navis

Art Direction by

Geza Kassai

Set Decoration by

Grace Smith

Costume Design by

Nancy Collini

Makeup Department

Sandra S. Orsolyak, Dustin Osborne, Darrell Redleaf-Fielder, Holly Sago, Maxi Spisak, Alan Tuskes

Production Management

Sean Gowrie

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director

Jesse Bellis, Lynn K. D'Angona

Art Department

Jeffrey Lange, Ron Martin, Alex Mooney, Andriy Pereklita, Monica Plunkett, Brandon Rife, Chris Singleton

Sound Department

Lorita de la Cerna, Demetri Evdoxiadis, K. Joshua Fernberg, Steve Guercio, Jacob Ortiz, Raymond Park, Henri Rapp, Michael Toji

Special Effects by

Chad Ball, Schuyler White

Visual Effects by

Mark Andrew Hamer

Stunts

Jason Cekanski, Matthew Divis, Richard Fike, Jami Kinton, Kitt Lashley, Dean Allen Ross, Kevin Sheridan, John Sundquist, Klint Tomlinson, Paul Turner

Camera and Electrical Department

Grant Adams, Dumaine Babcock, Vince Calabrese, Alex Dubois, Nick Giomuso, Daniel M. Henterly, Kevin Hines, Jay B. Johnson, Chris Owen Jones, Timothy James Kane, Ryan Keeper, Donnie Schneider, Rick Stern, John Turk, Briget Wolfe, Zac Popik

Casting Department

Phoebe Benya, Angela Boehm, Frank Ferendo, Jessica Gee-George, Grant George, Dawn Hyde, Kristina Randjelovic, Elizabeth Vitale

Costume and Wardrobe Department

Jaclyn Laravie, Natalia Piazza, Eric Robinson, Alyssa Tull, Jasmine Woolfork

Editorial Department

Hunter Clancey, Patrick Clancey, Jason Dougherty, Eric Fernandez, Jason Hanel, Jon Mendenhall, Stephen Regnier, Alexis Ross

Location Management

Kathy Ruggeri

Music Department

James Mcmillen, Will Quiney

Script and Continuity Department

Sherry Gunderman

Transportation Department

Rob Combest, Ron Hulec

Additional Crew

Jenny Armstrong, Dylan Bartolovich, Joel Timothy Bible, Sara Bonakdar, Andy Caley, Natalie Coleman, Sarah Cundall, Elizabeth Flood, Ami Francis, Bryan Geary, Edward E. Giddens, Michael Graf, Ryan Harvie, Mick R. Jones, Kimberly Leitch, Joe Loszack, Alastair Mavor, Dominic Pace, Matt Preuer, Teresa E. Purtiman, Damon Rahz, Brent Reichert, Magdalene Serpa, Joe Sorzano, Sam Tatton-Brown, Anthony J. Taylor

Thanks

Joseph Fedrl, Travis Killian, Cayla Koslen, Kevin Lehane, David Mott

Genres

Crime, Drama, Horror

Companies

Head Gear Films, Kreo Films FZ, Metrol Technology

Countries

USA

Languages

English

ContentRating

R

ImDbRating

6.8

ImDb Rating Votes

49184

Metacritic Rating

65

Short Description

I See You is a 2019 American horror film directed by Adam Randall from a screenplay by Devon Graye. The film stars Helen Hunt, Jon Tenney, and Judah Lewis.

I See You premiered at the 2019 SXSW Film Festival and was released on December 6, 2019, to generally positive reviews.

Box Office Budget

$3,000,000 (estimated)

Box Office Cumulative Worldwide Gross

$1,194,369

Keywords

Phrogging,kidnapping,infidelity,home invasion,murder