Intrusion
NETFLIXAdam Salky continues the precedent of utterly deplorable and horrifically produced NETFLIX originals in Intrusion – a flat, hollow, uninspired and genuinely poorly produced feature that is nothing short of a shambles.
It is hard to think where to start regarding the problems regarding Intrusion. The saddest aspect is that even the fundamentals and basics of a genre are downright poor here; the foundation is in ruins. The conventions of being a simplistic thriller are indeterminate in how lacklustre, predictable and poorly conceived director Adam Salky and writer Chris Sparling craft their screenplay. Nothing excites or elicits thrills or entertainment, being downright boring. There are so many cues and directions for this narrative to take, but in each and every possible root, Intrusion takes the easiest and most decompressed route imaginable. Not because it is safe or conventional, but because it is easy, a sin of all sins in terms of patronising its audience or whoever poor soul clicks onto this mess and makes it more than twenty minutes.
Not even the performances can save this disaster, with both Freida Pinto and Logan Marshall-Green equally as terrible with little material to work with and little conviction equally, as shown in their respective range. Pinto, for one, takes much of the running time up with her character trying to piece together a potential mystery, but the actress is poor in constructing emotive range and fails to conjure up immersion and connective tissue between character and audience.
Nevertheless, Pinto is Marlon Brando when compared to Logan Marshall-Green. The one-time hot property of Prometheus and Upgrade is relegated here to a blurry cosplay rendition of Guy Pearce. The result in the actor trying his hand at enigmatic flair is poorly realised with such lacking range it instead feels as if it is verging on SNL parody of sorts at times. The character creation looks and sound silly throughout, failing to convey the moods and themes needed to intoxicate and ultimately betray the audience – which is in no way a spoiler with how easily predicable this feature is.
The succinct tension, the poor performance, and outdated and hollow screenplay are just a few issues within Intrusion, but one that is beginning to be repetitive and painful to state how genuinely tripe and offensive the craftsmanship is behind the camera. Each frame on screen for the running time of ninety-three minutes is presented in the most flat and uninspired fashion possible. The colours are nonexistent, poor colour grading – even if it's present – composition, and the overall production design have no voice and texture. They do not act as a character or weight in themselves, and they do not breathe life or immersion; with how lifeless the narrative and characters are, with the added terror of it looking as equally as unsatisfactory, the viewer is just left to watch a casket be lowered in a grave.
