‘INVADER’ Won’t Hold Anyone Hostage

From the cinematography to the plot, “INVADER” is an incomprehensible mess that struggles to hold audiences captive.

Released Feb. 21, “INVADER” is the latest psychological horror film from director Mickey Keating and producer Joe Swangberg.

“INVADER” follows Ana, a young woman eager to visit her cousin Camila in the Chicago suburbs. But after countless unanswered calls, Ana begins to fear the worst. When she arrives to find Camila’s home and car abandoned, Ana takes it upon herself to uncover the truth.

On paper, the premise has the makings of an engaging thriller. But in practice, it’s a tiresome watch.

The film opens with the titular invader ransacking a home — smashing through walls, overturning furniture and eating the residents’ food. Though disturbing, the significance of this scene remains unclear as neither the invader nor the home reappear until the final few minutes.

This lack of clarity mainly plagues the first act, but “INVADER” generally struggles to follow through on any plot points it introduces. 

Early on, Ana is nearly kidnapped by a suspicious taxi driver, but the story thread leads nowhere. If its purpose was to emphasize Ana’s paranoia, there are more effective and subtle ways this could’ve been achieved.

Ana frantically calling her cousin while stranded at an unfamiliar bus stop is one of the instances that effectively conveys her anxiety. Everything else is banal.

At just 70 minutes, “INVADER” also suffers from mismanaged pacing. A large portion of the runtime is dedicated to Ana silently wandering through town. Though B-roll captures picturesque imagery of Midwestern suburbia, it quickly grows monotonous.

The plot picks up momentum in the second half with the introduction of Camila’s coworker, Carlo. Despite having no meaningful connection to Camlia, he joins Ana’s search.

Colin Huerta’s charismatic performance as Carlo is lighthearted without clashing with the movie’s serious nature. Vero Maynez is equally compelling as Ana, her anxious energy drawing the audience into her fear.

While the Invader (Joe Swanberg) is rarely shown, his enigmatic aura makes for an unnerving antagonist.

The final act delivers an intensity missing from the rest of the film, as Ana and Carlo sneak through Camila’s house and evade the lurking invader. But by the time the suspense kicks in, it’s too little, too late.

Such a climax might’ve been a saving grace — if the audience could actually see what’s happening. The handheld camerawork adds a sense of realism, but when the action intensifies, “INVADER” is bathed in an indecipherable blur of motion and darkness.

While a movie doesn’t need to constantly hold the audience’s attention, “INVADER” can barely get a grip.

Although not intentionally political, “INVADER” aims to be a critique of America’s rising home invasions — marked by an FBI statistic shown before the movie. 

With too many scenes of aimless exploration, it lacks any deeper commentary beyond surface level themes. The soundtrack, packed with cheap drones and cliched stingers, does little to enhance the atmosphere.

Despite the compellingly realistic performances, nothing saves “INVADER” from being an uneventful thriller.

“INVADER” is in select theaters now.