Vacancy

Directed by Nimród Antal, Vacancy follows squabbling couple David (Luke Wilson) and Amy (Kate Beckinsale) as they’re forced to fight for their lives after checking into a sketchy, remote motel. Filmmaker Antal, armed with Mark L. Smith’s screenplay, delivers a mostly entertaining endeavor that does get off to an awfully deliberate start, as the movie kicks off with a slow-burn opening stretch that’s admittedly elevated by the stirring efforts of both Wilson and Beckinsale – although it’s clear, certainly, that Frank Whaley’s incredibly idiosyncratic turn as said motel’s sleazy proprietor stands as an obvious highlight within the picture’s first half. And although Antal has peppered the proceedings with several undeniably tense and thrilling sequences, including (and especially) a terrific interlude wherein David and Amy finally figure out just what’s going on, Vacancy, even at a running time of 85 minutes, contains more than a few lulls and is ultimately capped off with a fairly underwhelming third act and climax (ie the movie just seems to conclude so abruptly) – which does, in the end, cement the picture’s place as a decent-enough thriller that feels as though it could and should be better.

**1/2 out of ****