Roost

Directed by Amy Redford, Roost follows a teenager (Grace Van Dien’s Anna) as she embarks upon a relationship with a much older man (Kyle Gallner’s Eric) she met on the internet – with complications ensuing after Anna’s mom (Summer Phoenix’s Beth) gets wind of the illicit pairing. It’s a movie-of-the-week-friendly premise that’s generally employed to watchable yet entirely underwhelming effect by Redford, as the filmmaker, armed with Scott Organ’s screenplay, delivers a sluggish drama that refuses to wholeheartedly embrace its trashy, salacious premise (ie all the ingredients are here for a top-tier riff on the ‘90s thriller genre) – which does result, ultimately, in a movie that feels like an elevated Lifetime Network production. It’s worth noting, then, that Roost’s tolerable atmosphere is due mostly to its compelling score and better-than-average performances, with, in terms of the latter, Gallner turning in intense, menacing work that elevates the proceedings and perpetuates the decent-enough vibe. By the time the somewhat anticlimactic finale rolls around, Roost, which feels long even at just 85 minutes, has cemented its place as a fairly lackluster and forgettable endeavor that could (and should) have been so much better.

** out of ****