BECKY Review–Home Invasion Meets Teenage Girl, Violence Ensues
Directed by Cary Murnion and Jonathan Milott
Written by Nick Morris, Ruckus Skye and Lane Skye
Starring Lulu Wilson, Kevin James, Amanda Brugel, Robert Maillet and Joel McHale
The directing team of Cary Murnion and Jonathan Milott (Cooties) have returned with a brutal, backwoods brawl of a movie, focusing their sites on the home invasion with a twist subgenre. It was a group of killer zombie schoolchildren that did all the damage in Cooties but, this time around, it’s a slightly damaged teenager named Becky. Sure, the film will be available in your home theater on Friday but this is the kind of bloody cat and mouse chase that’s tailor made for the more than 30 Drive-In theaters playing the movie this weekend.
Still reeling after the loss of her mother, Becky (Lulu Wilson) retreats to a cabin in the woods to reconnect with her father (Joel McHale) and get newly acquainted with Dad’s new girlfriend (Amanda Brugel) and her adorable but incredibly shy son (Isaiah Rockcliffe). Crashing the party, and possibly saving Becky from an incredibly awkward weekend, two escaped prisoners descend on the unsuspecting family in search of a hidden Nazi key that may unlock a vast fortune. This is probably the time to mention that once this has all been established, the man calling the shots is a heavily tattooed Neo-Nazi played by comedian Kevin James.
Luckily for Becky, she’s off brooding in the woods somewhere kicking rocks when all of this goes down. With the help of a walkie talkie, a ruler and an overabundance of teenage angst, Becky manages to turn the tables on the intruders. She might even have what they’re looking for in her possession.
Lulu Wilson is definitely the engine of the story but everything rides on Kevin James’ performance as the main villain, Dominick. When he pretends to just be a man looking for his lost dog early on, his completely unassuming presence works simply because most people would let the Kevin James they know from television into their house. But once he shows Dominick’s true face, is James convincing as a Neo-Nazi that’s ready to go to any lengths necessary to get what he wants? Kind of. He does have a few well-placed speeches decrying the dominance of the white race but the writing of these twisted soliloquies could be better suited to James’ strengths. It winds up working though because Dominick is now a little less formidable, making it more realistic that a thirteen year old girl could go toe-to-toe with him or, in this case, eyeball to eyeball (You’ll see!)
But this really is Lulu Wilson’s movie. She plays Becky with an almost feral quality, like her rage-fueled wrath is some kind of warped version of grief counseling. The transformation almost seems a little too accelerated when Becky is suddenly gallivanting through the woods gouging out eyes, stabbing people with rulers, and finding very creative ways to operate a boat motor. Wilson puts so much of herself in the role (even some of her own illustrations are seen in the film) that her metamorphosis into a killer feels triumphantly inspired. To be fair, she’s already lost her mother when the movie starts and seeing her Dad tortured and her dog mistreated just adds gas to the fire. When she comes out on the other side, she’s no longer the Becky we knew at the beginning. She’s BECKY.
Becky is playing in Theaters, Drive-Ins, On Digital & On Demand this Friday, June 5.
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Becky
Summary
When all is said and done after watching Becky, you may feel like you need to wash up after so much blood-soaked fun. You might suddenly be a little afraid of your teenage daughter, too.
