Jennifer Lawrence has appeared in many acclaimed films, but early in her career, she starred in an unfortunately unthrilling thriller.
Whether fans are praising Jennifer Lawrence's incredible performance as the clever and eccentric Kate in Don't Look Up, or feeling nostalgic about her time as Katniss in The Hunger Games, the actress has a huge reputation. . It seems impossible to think of a bad Jennifer Lawrence movie because Lawrence is so talented and dazzles audiences, whether appearing in a dark comedy or drama. But back in 2012, Jennifer Lawrence starred in a thriller that wasn't popular, and that's among the rest of her credits.
The House at the End of the Street feels like a considerable departure from what Lawrence had done up to that point. It would seem like an odd pivot for Lawrence in this dull thriller following Winter's Bone, The Hunger Games, and The Silver Linings Playbook. However, this is due to the delayed release of the film, as it was initially shot in 2010, but was not released until two years later.
The House at the End of the Street was not a hit with audiences or critics, and it remains one of Jennifer Lawrence's best films. The film has a 13% rating on Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer and the general sentiment is that it is not scary and doesn't draw people in. It's too bad because the film's premise sounds interesting: Alyssa (Lawrence) and her mom Sarah (Elizabeth Shue), who is divorced, move to a new town and a generally creepy home.
This is often the start of many horror movies, so it all sounds familiar, but the movie can still redeem itself and become more interesting. Alyssa meets Ryan (Max Thieriot) who is at the center of a family tragedy: their mom and dad are murdered by her sister, Carrie-Anne Jacobson, and then disappear. The love story that develops between Alyssa and Ryan never makes sense, as he's clearly hiding something and there's no way a smart teenage girl like Alyssa, who isn't interested in parties and high school stuff is, will actually ignore it and move on with fake a relationship.
A series of supposedly exciting revelations take place in the house at the end of the street. If the audience pulls back the layers, they will see that the film doesn't really have a strong premise or any meaning behind it. When the first reveal happens, it's not as exciting as it is clear from the start that Ryan is bad news. It is revealed that he is taking care of Carrie-Anne and keeps her secret from the world. When Ryan murders her, she doesn't mean it, but the plot is already so weird, confusing, and messy that it doesn't matter. There are no timeless plot twists here.
The main issue with Ryan is the lack of character development. Rather than being the anxious, intelligent, artistic type Alyssa will be attracted to, she is upset and not in a good way. The House at the End of the Street is completely derailed when Ryan wants people to think he didn't kill Carrie-Anne and pretends that a waitress named Peggy (Jordan Hayes) is Carrie-Ann. . It doesn't add up because he didn't want people to think that Carrie-Anne was still there in the first place, so why all his trouble? When another twist comes, it is revealed that Ryan used to take the women and keep them in his basement, acting as if they were Carrie-Anne, but knew she was dead. That's too much to think about at this point.
Alyssa also fails as a kind of strong Last Girl female movie character. She spends too much time swooning down on Ryan, and it's her mom Sarah who ultimately fights against Ryan, who feels like a shame because the audience would like to see Alyssa stronger. While there are some great dark teen thrillers out there, this isn't one of them, and while Jennifer Lawrence has always been a strong actress, she doesn't have much to do in this film. It seems that anyone could have played this role and there is nothing special about the character.
The end of the street at the end of the house will have the audience pausing and backtracking wondering if this was really where the movie went. When Ryan is in a mental hospital (which is already a problematic horror movie trope), the audience sees an image of Ryan's mom telling her to be Carrie-Ann and Ryan dressed as woman. His mother hurt him when she said he was Ryan. The film ends as Ryan thinks that the ghosts of his mom and dad are calling him Carrie-Anne. This suggests that Ryan's mom said that he had to pretend to be Carrie-Anne and that's why he had such a hard time for so many years. It's impossible for the audience to watch it without nodding their heads and wishing for a different outcome.