If you are a fan of Daniel Craig as James Bond, then you will know why he was a great Bond. Dream House is a film where he plays a father who could possibly be the “amnesiac James Bond” version of Father’s in the world. It is actually quite remarkable to see him play a different version of James Bond. After all, acting is all about being honest about who you truly are, and he plays the film’s protagonist very true to himself.

The logline states:

“Abandoning high-stress Manhattan, Will moves to a quiet New England town but learns that his new home was the site of several brutal murders.”

Dream House is a psychological thriller that will confuse the hell out of you until the second plot point in the film, where everything will make sense. That is why I am recommending this film because most psychological thrillers expose their purpose from plot point one versus plot point two. I don’t see this story structure very often in this genre because if all the confusion leading up to plot point two does not make sense, then the film will not work. What makes this strategy effective is that there are subtle clues that help you put the pieces of the puzzle together until the very final moment where the movie screams what the answer is to the equation; changing the entire dynamic of the film.

Plot points are very conducive to the storyline of every film. In this movie, the first plot point is in the logline; Will discovers that the house he moved his family into was the site of several brutal murders and the murderer has returned to kill his family. Conventional storytelling formulas would tell us that the audience needs to see this immediately as the story begins rather than having that as the first plot point. Instead, we need to care about the protagonist of the film, and that is why the first 20 minutes of the film exposes the audience to who Will is as a person, making him likable and relatable. This is done to make plot point two more effective. When the film’s plot twist hits us, the audience really empathizes with the fear, pain, and agony that Will has to face. Can Will accept the truth, or will he live the rest of his life in denial? If that doesn’t happen, then the audience will not care about Will or anything that happens in the movie. The audience won’t be cheering for him to succeed in the end. This is all because I have countlessly seen what occurs in plot point two of this film, happen in plot point one in most psychological thrillers. So, this makes the film drives like a car that drives typically 60 miles per hour to 200 miles per hour real quick once the second plot point kicks in. Most psychological thrillers go from 40 miles per hour to 180 from plot point one all the way to the end of the film.

Trust me the amp up from Dream House is a huge rush. It is definitely something that you need to experience.

If you want to go for a thrill ride, along with a mega plot twist this Friday night, then get a group of people together and watch this film. It is a great time, and more importantly, no alcohol is required to make this movie more enjoyable. Plus, it’s Daniel Craig playing an “amnesiac James Bond Daddy” character.

What more can you ask for?