A pair of amateur criminals break into a suburban home and stumble upon a dark secret that two sadistic homeowners will do anything to keep from getting out. A film by Dan Berk & Robert Olsen, starring Bill Skarsgård, Maika Monroe, Blake Baumgartner, Jeffrey Donovan, and Kyra Sedgwick.
Villains
Dan Berk • Robert Olsen
(2019)
After robbing a gas station, Mickey (Bill Skarsgård) and Jules (Maika Monroe) find themselves stranded when their car runs out of gas. Spotting a nearby house, they break in, desperate to steal another ride. But they can’t find the keys.
With no other options, Mickey decides to siphon gas from the house’s car instead. As they head down to the basement searching for a hose, they make a horrifying discovery. The find a young girl (Blake Baumgartner) chained up in there.
Mickey and Jules rush back upstairs, searching for something to free the girl. As they rummage through the house, George (Jeffrey Donovan), Gloria (Kyra Sedgwick), the homeowners and their infant son, return and encounter them. George and Gloria seem like an ordinary rural couple, even offering money to Mickey and Jules to leave quietly. But Jules wants to know why is there a girl chained in their basement.
George claims “Sweetiepie” is being disciplined. He even offers them a car to drive away and forget what they saw. But Mickey refuses, siding with Jules. They won’t leave until the girl is freed. But the situation takes an unexpected turn. Mickey is overpowered by George, knocked unconscious by a vicious headbutt.
Mickey awakens to find himself restrained to the bed frame. Finally, the horrifying secrets about this seemingly normal couple comes to light.
Written and directed by American filmmaking duo Dan Berk and Robert Olsen, “Villains” is a dark comedy with an interesting script. But it falls short of being truly original. It has scenes that remind you of other movies, and the ending is a bit too predictable (it might have been more fun if they’d thrown in a twist where the girl turns out to be a ghost). Still, it’s an indie film that was likely made on a modest budget, and the production quality is surprisingly good.
This might be Bill Skarsgård’s first time playing a leading man in a feature film, if we’re not counting TV series. He does well here since we’re used to seeing him in creepy roles. Kyra Sedgwick delivers an excellent psychotic performance. I can only hope that Dan Berk and Robert Olsen’s next project will be even better.
Villains premiered at the SXSW on 9 March 2019. The film had a limited theatrical release in the United States on 20 September, by Gunpowder & Sky.
