Title: The Caller
Director: Matthew Parkhill (‘Dot the I,’ TV’s ‘The Afternoon Play’)
Starring: Rachelle Lefevre (‘Twilight,’ ‘New Moon’), Stephen Moyer
Building believable and exciting suspense and anticipation between a protagonist and antagonist in a thriller is usually the most important part of the plot. But rarely showing the enemy as she battles the hero, as seen in the new Samuel Goldwyn Films feature ‘The Caller,’ is a risky move that surprisingly paid off. Director Matthew Parkhill forgoed a continuous stream of intense stunts to instead focus on building the characters’ backstories and personalities, which helped draw in and engage viewers.
‘The Caller’ follows the recently divorced Mary Kee (played by Rachelle Lefevre), who is eager to start a new life in a different apartment, away from her abusive ex-husband Steven (portrayed by Ed Quinn). Mary begins to receive strange phone calls from a mysterious woman, Rose (played by Lorna Raver), who’s asking for someone who she believes still lives in the apartment. Mary initially connects with Rose, as the two discuss their abusive relationships.
But when Rose reveals she’s calling from the past, Mary is anxious to stop contact, as she doesn’t want to believe she’s being contacted by someone from 25 years earlier. Mary begins to ignore Rose, and starts to build a relationship with Professor John Guidi (portrayed by Stephen Moyer) instead. Annoyed that she’s being disregarded, Rose starts taking revenge on Mary.
‘The Caller’ is unique in the fact that it doesn’t solely rely on physical scare tactics to engage its audience. As Lefevre has said of Parkhill, he wanted to focus on the actors’ portrayals of the characters, as well as the characters’ backgrounds. The actress expertly connected with Mary, and was flawlessly able to play her as wanting to move forward with her life and form new relationships after the end of her marriage. In the beginning of the film, she was so willing to talk to Rose, as they bonded over their abusive relationships. Viewers will also believe Mary is willing to start a romantic relationship with John, as he’s the complete opposite of her ex-husband; he wants to protect her from both Rose’s revenge and Steven’s continued pursuit of her.
Parkhill also made a smart decision not to show Rose for the majority of the film, and instead only feature her voice while she’s talking to Mary on the phone. Since ‘The Caller’ is primarily focused on Mary’s struggle to move on from her failed marriage, and her attempt to trust people again, not knowing Rose’s intentions initially gives Mary hope that she can move on with new, meaningful relationships. As the film progresses, viewers can also experience Mary’s fear of, and frustration over, Rose’s attempts to harm her.
Mary stays surprisingly strong in her struggle to stop Rose, with John’s help and support. In part to Lefevre and Moyer’s ease with each other, the two are believably determined to end Rose’s control of Mary’s life. The actress also said she worked well with the ‘True Blood’ actor, and they both knew when to have fun with certain scenes, and when they had to approach other scenes in a more serious manner.
‘The Caller’ is an intriguing, interesting thriller, as it refreshingly doesn’t solely focus on the scares Rose is trying to bring upon Mary. Including insight into Mary’s relationships with both Steven and John showed that she wasn’t afraid to live her life and move on from her abusive marriage. Lefevre gave such a captivating performance as Mary that viewers will surely embrace the fact that the movie is told entirely through her point of view.
Technical: B
Acting: A-
Story: A-
Overall: B+
Written by: Karen Benardello
