Allison Caine
2/6/2019
cover for movie: google images
Summary of plot
This movie was about a foreign exchange student, Ana. She made a friend, Monica, while she was in America. Ana was being stalked and Monica invited Ana to stay with her and her family. Ana looked very similar to Monica?s sister who was in a car accident, Camilla. Monica?s parents, Peter and Olivia, were very welcoming to Ana and always mentioned that she looked like Camilla. Olivia would refer to Ana as Camilla by accident and Peter would always say to Ana she needed to be a ?good girl.?
As Ana was staying with them Peter and Olivia had started to get very protective over her. They were replacing Camilla with Ana, but Ana was not aware of this until closer to the end of the movie. Ana found a note that Camilla had written to Monica before her accident because she was running away. Some of the content in the note took Ana by surprise and freaked her out. She tried to escape, but Olivia and Peter did not want her to. There was a real struggle in trying to leave, but she finally did, and when she finally got out she found out shocking news.
Hugging, attacking, or helping? :google images
Movie Background
Deadly Switch was released on Netflix January of 2019 and was directed by Svetlana Cvetko. This independent movie is a thriller. Deadly Switch is about the ?adventures? a foreign exchange student from Scotland has when she comes to America and stays with a new friend?s family. The title of the movie is slightly misleading and more dramatic than the movie itself; however, the movie was still suspenseful and thrilling. The title of the movie makes the audience think there will be more to the story than there really is and that there is a lot more danger than there is in the plot.
Svetlana Cvketo directed this movie. Cvetko has been part of movie crews as a member of camera and electrical department, cinematographer, and director.Other movies she has directed have been mostly shorts, such as, She Kept Silent, No War, and Yours Sincerely, Lois Weber. These shorts range in the purpose of them. Some of them are documentaries, but some are also based on drama.Her lack of experience in directing long films and films of this same genre shows in this movie. There was too much going on in the movie and if she were to have directed more films than just shorts she could have been more aware of what is too much, such as, including as many intertwining plot lines and characters.
The Deadly Switch was written by Chris Silverton. He wrote the script well, but again, there was too much going on. The concept of the movie was interesting, but was too crowded. The script should have had less plot lines by decreasing the number of stories that are about the sister. The script was done well besides the many plot lines. What the characters were saying was creepy like what the movie had the intentions of being.
Review of film
The acting in this film was not terrible but not great. The main character Ana (Hayley McLaughlin) was not the best actress and her acting messed up the movie. The way she spoke did not match her actions. She talked in a very monotone way, while she was scared. If her voice matched her actions the movie would have come off a lot better. For example, her face would say she was scared, but the way she was speaking did not seem like she was.
The supporting actors were better than the main character. Peter (Dylan Walsh), who was the dad of Ana?s friend and the mom, Olivia (Teri Polo) were very good supporting actors. They were creepy like they should have been. They were able to act crazy when they needed to, but also strangely calm at a different point. Teri Polo was especially good at her job though. She was the one who acted the craziest and fit her role the best. Her facial expressions and actions, matched what she was saying. Her acting did not seem forced unlike Hayley McLaughlin.
?I still think you?re a good girl?
The summary of the plot seems pretty simple to follow, but it was not. There were many side stories going on and some stories were just random and did not make sense. Every character had some type of relation to this family, but some of them were not known until the end of the movie. All of the characters were somehow involved in getting Ana to stay with Olivia and Peter. The ending was the most confusing part. A lot of the story was tied together at the end of the movie, but some parts were not. At the end of the movie, the audience is still stuck with questions that they have to make assumptions about.
This is a scene right after Olivia had a mental breakdown: google images
The Deadly Switch was not a very good movie. I would not recommend this movie to anyone unless I want them to watch a bad movie. The main character?s acting was sub-par and there were some ends of the story that were not fully tied up. The ending of the movie will leave you with some questions; however, you will not care enough to even question them because of how bad this movie is. The concept is interesting, but was not orchestrated well.
