Better Watch Out

On Christmas Eve, Ashley is babysitting twelve-year-old Luke when she realises someone has got into the house. For half an hour it plays as a straight home invasion thriller, then it turns: there is no intruder, Luke staged everything, and he did it to impress her. Chris Peckover directed. It was originally called Safe Neighborhood. The production story is worth noting. It was first planned for South Carolina on a 500,000 dollar budget; a connection through Peckover's mother produced a 3 million dollar Australian production deal, and it was shot in Sydney in early 2016. Levi Miller and Olivia DeJonge lead and critics praised both. Rotten Tomatoes sits at 89 percent, with a consensus pointing to deranged mind games and faultless performances while noting the tonal inconsistency. It premiered at Fantastic Fest in September 2016, opened in the United States in October 2017 and in Australia that November, and grossed 188,756 dollars. Who it is for: viewers who like horror with a turn and genre films set at Christmas. Who it is not for: anyone uncomfortable with violence involving children, in either direction. The second half observes no limits at all on that.