The Scariest Thing About The New Horror Movie Borderline Is How Much You’ll Laugh – SlashFilm

This text incorporates delicate spoilers for “Borderline.”

Following the Los Angeles premiere of “Borderline,” the function directorial debut of “Cocaine Bear” author Jimmy Warden, the director acknowledged that when a male singer is belting out the lyrics to Madonna’s “Borderline,” abruptly the lyrics develop into deeply unsettling. There’s an acknowledgement {that a} social contract has been destroyed. It is cute and playful to observe a younger lady giggle her approach via hyperbolic statements like “You simply carry on pushin’ my love over the borderline,” however when males do the identical, it begins to sound like a risk. These gendered expectations, social contracts, and implicit assumptions are the border traces of Warden’s freshman directorial effort, the place a spunky, ’90s pop star named Sofia (Samara Weaving) is terrorized in her own residence by a delusional fan named Paul (Ray Nicholson) who’s satisfied that not solely are the 2 destined to be married, however that they have been in a relationship for years.

It is easy to giggle at a man like Paul, as a result of regardless of his unquestionable attractiveness and megawatt smile (that he can thank his well-known father’s genetics for offering), he is simply so pathetic. After we first meet Paul, we’re welcomed into his twisted fantasy of marrying Sofia, one he narrates to the viewers will be what we see on the finish of the story. The movie’s chilly open sees him efficiently making his approach into Sofia’s luxurious mansion whereas she’s fortunately not residence; taking his footwear off on the door, doing his laundry in her machines, attempting out her recording tools in her non-public studio, and even taking a bubble tub in her jacuzzi tub. He frolics round her home like a baby left in a single day in a toy retailer, and Nicholson’s efficiency is so rattling electrifying, you may’t assist however set free a chuckle regardless of the actual fact he gained entry to the mansion by stabbing her safety guard, Bells (Eric Dane), who’s at the moment bleeding out within the driveway.

“Borderline” has loads of intentional moments of hilarity as a result of Warden is a deeply humorous author, however the scariest factor about his horror comedy is simply how typically you may giggle. As a result of it is a story that forces the viewers into a lot discomfort, in the event you do not giggle, you are sure to lose your thoughts.

It would be simple to mistake “Borderline” as nothing greater than an odd, generally screwball comedy with bits of graphic violence thrown in for good enjoyable, however Warden’s script is downright fascinating in the way in which it performs with spectator conjectures in regards to the characters, and what it leaves out to power us to venture these assumptions onto them. We study that Paul skilled a traumatic occasion throughout one in every of Sofia’s live shows, and it is implied however by no means confirmed that that is what brought about him to have a detachment from actuality. However we do not know way more than that. There is not any approach for us to know if this occasion was what really broke him, or if he was damaged lengthy earlier than. We all know that when he exhibits up on Sofia’s doorstep for the primary time within the movie, it’s not the primary time he is proven up there as he and her safety guard should not solely on a primary identify foundation, however Bell appears to already know that one of the best plan of action is to validate Paul’s mistaken perception techniques. He exhibits us time and time once more that he’s a formidable risk, however nobody appears to take his presence severely till it is too late. Is this commentary on how little we put money into males’s psychological well being or how unserious the Nineties was as a decade relating to the security of well-known ladies? “Borderline” does not give us simple solutions, which can frustrate some, however gives loads of house for discourse.

It is also simple to instantly root for Sofia, not solely as a result of she’s Samara Weaving (and all people loves Samara Weaving!) but in addition as a result of her existence as a gorgeous, blonde, white lady tends to garner implicit sympathy (find out about lacking white lady syndrome, in the event you’re not already acquainted). Even after we study that Sofia’s newfound relationship with an NBA participant named Rhodes (the all the time unbelievable Jimmie Fails) was initially organized as a publicity stunt and that she’s so wealthy she has by no means felt the necessity to study the place the circuit breaker is in her own residence, we nonetheless root for her. In every other film, a personality like Sofia could be “unlikable,” however what makes “Borderline” such a sensible story is that it serves as a reminder that there isn’t any such factor as an ideal sufferer, and even “unlikable” folks should be spared from the emotional (and bodily) terrorism that comes from a fan like Paul too.

“Borderline” permits Nicholson and Weaving to make a feast out of their characters (particularly Nicholson), however the script is a comedy of errors that wreaks havoc on all concerned. While you’re too busy laughing to concentrate to the hazard Paul presents, it is no shock why he is capable of get away with as a lot as he has.

The movie is ready in “1990-one thing,” and whereas there aren’t many script-required features of the movie itself that remind you it is a Nineties film exterior of the aesthetics or lack-of-cell-telephones and Wi-Fi that will have thwarted Paul’s plans earlier than they even started, the thematic core and subversion of popular culture references are firmly within the decade. Sofia and Rhodes are basically avatars for Madonna and Chicago Bulls participant Dennis Rodman, a person who famously shut down Fifth Avenue in New York Metropolis for sporting a marriage costume to his e book signing.

“Borderline” does not neglect that iconic second, however utterly twists it on its head into one thing truly horrific, as if to look again at all the individuals who decried the tip of civilization as a result of among the best rebounders in NBA historical past wore a costume in public to say, “No, you fools, THIS is what ought to terrify you.” And but, as a result of too many individuals are nonetheless too uncomfortable to course of a masculine particular person in female apparel, they’re going to giggle. In the identical approach that most of the people possible does not bear in mind Rodman’s basketball stats or the horrific allegations lobbied in opposition to him however do bear in mind his penchant for sporting “ladies’s” trend, “Borderline” is aware of precisely how the viewers goes to react, and makes use of it to the movie’s benefit. Fairly frankly, a lot of the film operates like a Rorschach take a look at — the response to the horror at hand says way more in regards to the reactor than it does the film for together with it.

And that is the facility of the film. Admittedly, the pacing is usually a bit troublesome at occasions (particularly the start) and the logic is much less hermetic and extra “drafty Midwest window in the midst of winter,” however none of that issues if you give your self over to the world that Warden created, as a result of it isn’t all that dissimilar from the one we at the moment stay in. Certain, the movie is ready within the Nineties, however with a couple of wardrobe modifications, this story might exist in any interval. The extra issues change, the extra they keep precisely the identical. The viewers response then is the viewers response now. And my god is it backbone-chilling to have to just accept.

“Borderline” is a hell of a enjoyable time on the films and boasts some fairly unbelievable performances, which, sure, embrace numerous laughs available. “Warrior Nun” star Alba Baptista is a complete scene-stealer as Penny, an equally disturbed French woman who basically serves because the Harley Quinn to Paul’s Joker. However between each punchline (I audibly guffawed when a younger woman accuses Paul of placing a priest in a field and he retorts, “We put a pastor in a field. We’re Protestants.”) there may be the simmering, terrifying reminder that “Borderline” is just not out of the realm of risk, and is much extra widespread than most of the people realizes.

Certain, most individuals are conscious of the horrific tragedies unleashed on figures like Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, John Lennon, and actress Rebecca Schaeffer, however how many individuals find out about former WWE Celebrity Sonya Deville (actual identify Daria Berenato) who was stalked by a fan on-line who ultimately broke into her residence with a knife, plastic zip ties, duct tape, and mace? How many individuals know that “iCarly” star Miranda Cosgrove’s stalker lit himself on hearth and shot himself in her entrance yard after capturing a lady in her neighborhood that regarded like her? Does most of the people know that Miley Cyrus has had a number of stalkers, together with one who was arrested earlier than claiming “it is my life’s mission to impregnate [her]?” Or do folks solely take note of these tales when the celebrities wind up lifeless?

We have been educated to giggle at these depressing “reply guys” after they’re blowing up a celeb’s Instagram web page with determined thirst feedback and train ladies to “simply ignore the trolls.” That is all to say, Jimmy Warden’s film is totally terrifying not simply because “diabolically unwell man stalks lady and holds her (and others) hostage to placed on a marriage” is a daunting idea, however as a result of guys like this exist and they’re traditionally by no means taken severely.

“Borderline” is aware of this and makes use of it in opposition to its viewers. So long as we’re laughing on the cop doing a jazz sq., the safety guard attempting to eat meals that is too sizzling simply out of the microwave, or the grown man who believes he is been in a relationship with a pop star he is by no means met, we can’t know what hit us till it is too late.

“Borderline” is at the moment enjoying in restricted theaters and is accessible on VOD.