Shut In is a heart-pounding thriller starring two-time Oscar Nominee Naomi Watts, that relentlessly questions whether or not we can really believe our own eyes and ears. Isolated by her role as carer to her paralyzed son and by a devastating blizzard, Watts’ child psychologist, Mary, must find out the truth behind a missing boy in her care. Making great use of its claustrophobic setting, Shut In is a terrifying slice of New England gothic that will keep you riveted until the final twist.

Naomi Watts (King Kong, Mulholland Drive, The Ring, The Impossible)
Oliver Platt (TV’s Fargo, TV’s Chicago Fire, TV’s Chicago P.D., TV’s Chicago Med)
Charlie Heaton (Netflix’s Stranger Things)
Jacob Tremblay (Room)

Director
Farren Blackburn (Hammer of the Gods, TV’s Doctor Who, Netflix’s Daredevil)

TBC

After losing her husband in a tragic car accident that also left her teenage stepson, Stephen (Stranger Things’ Charlie Heaton), paralysed and uncommunicative, child psychologist, Mary (Oscar Nominee, Naomi Watts), finds herself isolated in a remote New England house, struggling with her responsibilities as a carer while juggling her career.

When a new patient, Tom (Room’s Jacob Tremblay), left grieving after the death of his mother, vanishes in a severe winter storm and is presumed dead, Mary continues to hear his voice and catches fleeting glimpses of him around her home. While her doctor puts her visions down to sleep deprivation, Mary begins to suspect something more sinister as the storm cuts her and Stephen off from the outside world, and the intensifying apparitions cause her to fear for her sanity - and her life.

Shut In combines a great setting with an amazing cast to create a tense, claustrophobic thriller that may or may not have a supernatural twist. Mary Portman’s doctor doesn’t seem to think it does, blaming her visions and supposedly haunted house on sleep deprivation, caused by her role as carer and her worry over her missing patient. But Mary really isn’t so sure and as she sees and hears more of the apparition within her isolated New England home, she begins to question both her sanity and her safety.

Farren Blackburn’s direction gives us a fantastic haunted house setting, with a beautiful home cut off from the rest of the world, that begins to feel increasing smaller as the tension ratchets up. However, Blackburn’s TV background means that the Shut In stays intensely visual without losing any of the more subtle dramatic elements of the screenplay that make it so much more than just another haunted house saga. Instead, Shut In gives the best of both worlds, with fiercely heart-pounding scares and chills aplenty, combined with high drama and accomplished acting.

All three actors put in tremendous performances led by a fantastically fragile Naomi Watts, who, once again, reminds us why she is one of Hollywood’s most acclaimed actresses. Charlie Heaton, in particular, is fantastic to watch, conveying so much despite the physical limitations of his character, while Jacob Tremblay continues to impress (after starring in the Oscar Nominated Room) despite his young age. Put them together and you get one smart, edge-of-your-seat thriller.