Come Play (2020) fails to deliver its cautionary tale for screen addiction

 

(Image courtesy of heavenofhorror.com)

In the current age of technology, there have been a lot of horror movies in recent years that bank on the premise of tech addiction like Unfriended and Truth or Dare. Come Play is one of them. However, where others have succeeded, Come Play falls slightly short of a cautionary tale and more of a comedic footnote in the fight to educate us on the dangers of screen addiction.

Come Play is directed by Jacob Chase and stars Gillian Jacobs (Community), John Gallagher Jr. (The Newsroom) and Azhy Robertson (Marriage Story) and tells the story of an autistic child played by Robertson who is targeted by a demonic presence through the screens of digital devices. 

The demon introduces itself to Robertson's character, Oliver, via a storybook app on his phone. Calling itself "Larry", the demon persuades Oliver that it wants to befriend the child, in an attempt to open a portal to its world and pull Oliver through it. 

(Image courtesy of indiewire.com)

The movie's pacing goes from slow to fast to faster as the script kind of takes its time to explain the every day lives of Oliver and his parents (Gallagher Jr. & Jacobs) as well as the introduction of Larry in the first to middle half of the movie, but then realizes its mistake, and speeds through from the middle to the end with very little breathing room or explanations. 

The scenes were choppy and the script were completely lazy, especially the scene where the parents just conveniently start believing in Larry. There was no, "what's happening to me? Am I losing my mind?" or "This can't be real. There must be a scientific explanation to all of this."

For a western horror movie, it was too convenient and out of place. If this was an Asian horror movie, it still made little sense, since the protagonist and storyline would be made believers within the first few seconds. But alas, we they can't all be Asians. 

(Image courtesy of rogerebert.com)

The acting was sufficient but the story fell short of a cautionary tale against the horrors of screen addictions since Oliver was autistic and needed the device to communicate but evidently relied on it too much. We're half convinced that the speech therapist was the one to summon the demon since she was having such a difficult time engaging with Oliver who relied so much on his phone instead of practicing to speak. We also think it would've been a better movie if she did turn out to be the mastermind behind Larry. 

We also particularly love the part where the mother takes a leaf out of the Babadook and yells at Oliver, asking him, "Why can't you just be normal?!" That's always the best sign of good parenting. 

In terms of pros and cons, Come Play has more cons than pros including the convenience of the script where everyone just comes to terms with Larry's existence, the trust issue Oliver has that pushes him over the edge, the creature design of Larry, the mind-numbing, motion-sickening scenes and awkward camera angles as well as the intentions of Larry itself. The pros of the movie is that they cast both Jacobs and Gallagher Jr., whom we adore. But that's about it. 

Come Play was a decent enough movie for a leisurely watch on a slow Sunday, but is it re-watch worthy? Definitely not. 

All in all, Asian Does Horror gives Come Play 👻👻 ghost emojis out of five.