“Locked”: Two Horror Icons Battle Inside A Stolen Car | Coming Soon
Horror movies continue to educate us; this time, they convey a clear message: Don’t steal cars. This commandment is the starting point of the thriller “Locked,” which should hit theaters next month. With the casting of Bill Skarsgård (as usual) as the bad guy who breaks into a car, the voice of Anthony Hopkins as the car owner who decides to punish him, and a plot that seems particularly claustrophobic, we could very well get a compelling thriller here that does the job.
What Is The Movie Locked About?
In “Locked,” horror star Bill Skarsgård (Pennywise in the recent adaptations of “It,” “Nosferatu,” “The Crow,” “Barbarian”) plays Eddie Barrish, a kind of low-profile criminal – at least as much as can be said about a man with spiky hair and a pink hoodie. Eddie needs money, fills out scratch cards, and mostly walks around the neighborhood looking for open vehicles to “break” into.
Suddenly, he sees a golden opportunity: a luxury Jeep with an open door waiting for him to enter. He does so but quickly realizes that something is wrong here. He receives a call from the car’s owner, William (voiced by the great Anthony Hopkins, “Silence of the Lambs,” “Hannibal,” “The Father”) and realizes that he has entered a kind of version of “Saw,” this time inside a luxury vehicle.
The car’s owner decides to teach the potential thief a lesson, locks him in the car, and sets up all kinds of traps. From the trailer, it seems that we will mainly get an attempt by the poor guy to get out of the car, with all the obstacles that you can imagine in such situations: one-way windows hermetically sealed against noise, running out of water, stifling heat, and so on, in a car that is hermetically controlled by William: from the stereo system, through the climate system, to the driving itself.
Although the location is dynamic because the car is moving, “Locked” is probably a thriller that takes place mostly in one location (inside the car). It has a relatively small cast that includes the two protagonists and a few supporting characters, for example, people who are supposed to help the criminal get out of the car, but that probably won’t happen, at least not in the film’s early parts.
We could get a kind of battle of wits between two of the most significant names in horror cinema in recent decades, in which the “villain” wants to teach potential criminals a lesson and make them pay for their actions. By the way, the trailer suggests that the encounter is not only with Hopkins’ scary voice – perhaps one of the creepiest characteristics of the characters he plays – but at some point with Hopkins himself.
From Argentina To Sam Raimi
“Locked” is a remake of an Argentine crime thriller, “4X4, ” by director and screenwriter Mariano Cohn. This film is loosely based on a true story. Cohn got the idea when watching the news and came across a story about a thief trapped inside a car he was trying to steal in Brazil. The film received mixed reviews from the audience (a 5.7 rating on IMDB, as of this writing), but quite a few critics showered it with praise, which explains why they decided to make an English-language remake here.
“Locked” will be directed by David Yarovesky, who made one of the most successful horror films of recent years: 2019’s “Brightburn,” starring Elizabeth Banks. This combination of horror and science fiction was fascinating on paper, a scary version of a superhero story about a boy who comes from another planet but uses his powers mainly for things associated with a horror movie. It included some great scenes but a disappointing ending that mostly showed how much potential there was for a cult film. Yarovsky has directed two other mediocre horror films: 2014’s “The Hive” and Netflix’s “Nightbooks” in 2011, and “Locked” could be his ticket to the big leagues.
Another interesting name behind the scenes is producer Sam Raimi, who we know, of course, as the director of masterpieces like the original “Evil Dead” trilogy and “Drag Me to Hell” (well, and also other tiny films like “Spider-Man” and “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness”).
In recent decades, we have seen him mainly as a producer through his company, Raimi Productions, with films like “The Grudge” (2004) and “The Grudge 2” (2006), the remakes of “Evil Dead” (2013) and “Poltergeist” (2015), and several other films from recent years, including “Don’t Breathe” (2016) and its slightly less excellent sequel (2021), “65” (2023), “Boy Kills World” (2023, also starring Bill Skarsgård and Jessica Rothe from the “Happy Death Day” films), the so-so thriller “Don’t Move” (2024) for Netflix that we reviewed not long ago, and more. Here, Raimi will collaborate with another production company, ZQ Entertainment, whose films are less well-known to the general public.
When Can You Watch Locked?
The production of “Locked” was not smooth. The role of The main hero/villain was initially intended for Glen Powell (“Anyone But You,” “Hit Man,” “Twisters”), one of the hottest names in Hollywood today, but he was replaced at some point by Skarsgård – perhaps because one of the hottest names in Hollywood today has a hectic schedule.
The film was shot in Vancouver, Canada, in late 2023. It was offered to potential buyers during the 2024 Toronto Film Festival, and The Avenue bought it.
“Locked” will hit screens in the United States on March 21.
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