This weekend, Adam Wingard returns to his roots in original filmmaking with the release of Onslaught, an action-horror film that reunites him with his frequent collaborator, screenwriter Simon Barrett. The pair are known for their work on genre favorites that have gained cult followings, such as 2014’s The Guest and 2016’s Blair Witch, before Wingard engaged with big-budget studio fare to do 2021’s Godzilla vs. Kong and its 2024 sequel, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (Barrett also has a screenwriter credit on this film alongside Terry Rossio and Jeremy Slater).
However, it’s likely none of these projects would have come to fruition without their first collaboration, the home-invasion slasher film You’re Next. After premiering at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival in the Midnight Madness section, You’re Next was released two years later to good reviews and solid box office in relation to its budget, but it remains an underrated cult favorite. Genre fans are keenly aware of the film, but it’s deserving of more mainstream acknowledgement for the way Wingard’s direction and Barrett’s writing turn things on its head and present a home invasion thriller with one hell of a twist.
The plot, at least at a glance, is very simple. Aubrey and Paul Davison (Barbara Crampton and Rob Moran) have invited their adult children and their significant others to gather together at a remote weekend estate to commemorate their 35th wedding anniversary. The attendees include the oldest sibling, Drake (Joe Swanberg), who makes no effort to hide his arrogance, and his wife, Kelly (Margaret Laney). Middle brother and college professor Crispian (A.J. Bowen) is in tow with his girlfriend Erin (Sharni Vinson), while his lowlife younger brother Felix (Nicholas Tucci) has brought along his quiet girlfriend Zee (Wendy Gleen).
Lastly, there’s the lone sister of the bunch, Aimee (Amy Seimetz), who has brought along her filmmaker boyfriend Tariq (Ti West). The typical tensions of gathering family together permeate throughout the festivities, but it all turns into a fight for survival when masked killers wearing animal disguises attack, and family dysfunction turns into a home invasion. However, everything isn’t as it seems.
The Uneasiness Of Family Dysfunction
Wingard and Barrett keep the audience on their toes by focusing on what appears to be the main issues within the family. There is clearly jealousy amongst the family, with some making it more obvious than others, and each characteristic of the family members, along with their partners, sets up the idea that the main tension will come from their potential bickering, but that is just a briliant slight of hand employed by Wingard and Barrett.
The breeding of resentment is clear in how Paul, the family patriarch, treats his children. His expectations are harder and rougher for his older children, while he’s softer with the younger siblings. This doesn’t sit well with eldest son Drake, who believes his wealth and status automatically make him superior, which is something his snarky wife, Kelly, joins in on. On the other end is Felix, the younger brother who is perceived as a lowlife who doesn’t have the financial security that his brother does. Seemingly, the two caught in the middle are the middle brother, Crispian, content with being a college professor away from family grievances, and the excitable Aimee, who just appears stressed out by all the family turmoil.
The audience is so dialed in on the family dynamics and the ensuing argument at the dinner table that it’s true startingly moment when a crossbow arrow shoots through the window and strikes and kills one of the attendees. Wingard and Barrett do such a good job of disarming the audience that, even though there is an attack at the top of the film, the guards are down, and the focus has shifted to the uneasiness of this family gathering. Now the family is under attack and seemingly has to band together to survive, but this film has even more tricks up its sleeve.
Home Invasion With A Twist
You’re Next could’ve easily been a standard home invasion thriller with the dark comedy of family bickering at its core (the latter of which remains throughout), but the film excels by subverting expectations with the character of Erin. Her nervousness about meeting Crispian’s family almost makes her fade into the background until Wingard and Barrett, alongside Vinson’s game performance, turn her into the horror genre’s most underrated final girl.
As it turns out, Erin grew up in a survivalist compound where she was taught survival and combat skills. Once Erin’s true background becomes known, the film becomes a totally different beast as Erin turns the tables on the attackers and uses her skills to systematically take them down. The horror genre loves a final girl with a sense of urgency, and that’s something that Vinson brings to the table through her performance, going from the girlfriend meeting the family to a literal weapon of destruction that uses any tool in the home as a potential aid for protection. She’s tactical and quick-thinking but thankfully not superhuman. It goes a long way that Erin takes her fair share of lumps because it shows just how strong she is in the end when she overcomes them.
The brilliance of You’re Next is how the film handles that twist and two more that are revealed during its relatively short 94-minute runtime. The audience doesn’t exactly expect them or, if they do, they’re still unsure of how they will unfold within the story. Erin tells Zee about her survivalist background, not knowing that the home invasion was an inside job orchestrated by Zee and her boyfriend Felix to collect a massive inheritance. Felix doesn’t appear to have the sophistication to pull off the plot, while Zee has been so quiet throughout that the audience doesn’t think she’d be in on it either.
The audience is then treated to one more cherry on top: the unassuming college professor Crispian was also in on the family massacre with Felix and Zee to get a cut of the money. His family is set up as so eccentric and he so normal that the audience thinks he’ll just be another victim alongside Erin. You don’t exactly see him coming, but cleverly none of them see Erin coming either. Inviting who appears to be his helpless girlfriend adds to the facade, but turning Erin’s secret into its own weapon of deception is a stroke of genius by Barrett, and its visual unraveling is impeccably executed by Wingard’s direction.
You’re Next Earns Its Place As A Cult Classic
You’re Next was released to success when it debuted in August 2013, earning $26.8 million worldwide on a slim $1 million budget. Critics were also kind to the film, gracing it with a 79 percent on Rotten Tomatoes as critics found something to enjoy in its clever mix of dark humor and extreme gore. Along with horror efforts such as Insidious or It Follows, You’re Next earned its place as one of the best horror films of the 2010s and has only grown in popularity within genre circles over the years.
Even though horror fans are distinctly aware of You’re Next, its initial release likely prevented it from achieving more mainstream awareness. After garnering buzz at the Toronto Film Festival in 2011, Lionsgate held the film for two years to prioritize Sinister, rightfully assuming it had more potential to break out (to be fair, the film was relatively well-reviewed for a horror movie and ultimately grossed $87.7 million globally on a $3 million budget). By delaying You’re Next, the buzz from the festival had subsided, and it couldn’t be utilized to optimize even more box office success and awareness for the film.
This led to You’re Next becoming a hidden gem that most definitely shouldn’t be hidden. Wingard and Barrett crafted a horror film that flipped tired tropes to execute a final product that put a fresh spin on the slasher and home-invasion sub-genre. The end result is a perfect blend of dark humor through clever writing, creative kills, and action that elevate it above the typical survival-by-any-means-necessary action movie, and it left the horror genre with a final girl for the ages. You’re Next is a film that deserves to be underrated no more.
Onslaught is now playing in theaters nationwide.
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