Netflix's New Serial Killer Thriller Plunges A Yellowstone Star Into Horror Territory

Movies Horror Movies

There's a new serial killer horror movie hitting Netflix this week, and it's got a hell of a hook. In "Don't Move," directed by Adam Schindler and Brian Netto and produced by horror icon Sam Raimi, a woman named Iris (played by "Yellowstone" cast member Kelsey Asbille) finds herself trying to evade a charming killer (played by Finn Wittrock). Sounds familiar and kind of rote, right? Well, here's the twist: the killer has injected Iris with a paralytic drug that will shut her body down in about 20 minutes. She'll still be conscious, but she'll be almost entirely unable to move. 

"To read the script itself was like a nonstop page-turner," Sam Raimi told Netflix. "It's a moving experience, especially for a suspense film." "Don't Move" has a neat little set-up, and part of the fun of the flick is watching how the filmmakers handle Iris' plight. Sure enough, her body does indeed stop working early in the film, which renders her uniquely helpless and forced to deal with things like swarming ants, house fires, and more, not to mention that pesky serial killer on her tail. She can't simply fight back, nor can she run away. How will she survive? 

While this is an admittedly dark scenario, "Don't Move" is surprisingly fun, mostly because it's light on its feet; a well-crafted thriller that keeps moving swiftly even as Iris remains almost perfectly still. She may be immobilized, but this movie sure isn't. It helps that Asbille makes for a strong, compelling final girl — we're really rooting for her to pull through and get a leg-up on her would-be killer. Wittrock is also quite good as said killer — he's charming and likable ... until he isn't. We grow to hate him just as much as we grow to like Iris. It's a character and performance that reminded me a little of Josh Hartnett's charming Butcher in M. Night Shyamalan's highly underrated 2024 thriller "Trap." ("Trap" is great, don't @ me.) 

Don't Move is an edge-of-your-seat thriller that unfolds in (almost) real time

As "Don't Move" begins, we learn that Iris is grieving the death of her child. Her grief has become so insurmountable that she's considering suicide. She drives out to the woods and perches on the edge of a cliff, ready to hurl herself into oblivion. But she's stopped by the arrival of a stranger: a pleasant-enough guy who says his name is Richard. Richard doesn't really try to stop Iris, but he has a calming effect on her, and she ultimately decides to step back from the edge. Unfortunately, Richard turns out to be a serial killer. He incapacitates Iris with a stun-gun disguised as an umbrella (do those exist? Where do you even get one? Can you buy them on Amazon?), binds her with zip-ties, and puts her in the backseat of his car.

Iris eventually comes to and is able to cut herself free with a Swiss Army Knife. This moment does a great job establishing her as a fighter — sure, she may have been moments away from dying by suicide a few scenes ago, but now she wants to live. She'll be damned if this creepy guy gets to kill her. However, Iris isn't out of the woods yet, both literally and figuratively. Richard tells her that while she was unconscious, he injected her with a paralytic — and that in about 20 minutes, her body is going to shut down and leave her immobilized. And that's exactly what happens. Just to increase the tension, the movie unfolds (almost) in real time.

To say more would dip into spoiler territory, but "Don't Move" finds clever new ways to keep its story moving even while its heroine is rendered motionless. "Don't Move" may not be the slickest thriller, or the most sophisticated, but it does a great job of keeping you on the edge of your seat. How is this going to turn out? How is Iris going to survive this terrifying ordeal? And how many people will end up dead along the way? 

"Don't Move" is now streaming on Netflix.