The Guest, film review: Downton Abbey star Dan Stevens turns psychopath
(15) Adam Wingard, 100 mins Starring: Dan Stevens, Maika Monroe

This may be a retrograde adolescent wish-fulfilment fantasy, sadistic and violent, but it's also slickly made and has real satirical bite.
Dan Stevens is a long way from Downton Abbey as the discharged Iraq war veteran who wreaks havoc in small-town America after turning up uninvited at a fallen comrade's home. He's a psychopath but a well-spoken one, with a poise and charm that makes us root for him even at his homicidal worst.
Stevens plays David in a manner that seems inspired in equal measure by Ryan Gosling's effortlessly cool outsider in Drive and by Clint Eastwood's man-with-no-name routine.
Wingard's claims that the film is intended to expose the reality of post-traumatic stress syndrome are laughable but he has a magpie-like flair for taking ideas from other movies (everything from The Manchurian Candidate to The Terminator and The Night of the Hunter) that rekindles memories of Tarantino.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments