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Breaking In

6/10

Stars: Gabrielle Union, Billy Burke, Ajiona Alexus, Richard Cabral, Levi Meaden, Seth Carr, Mark Furze

Director: James McTeigue

A goodish if derivative B movie thriller that pretty much does what it says on the tin. The action opens on an older jogger being knocked down (on purpose) and killed. I didn't really understand this in light of subsequent events, but we're then introduced to his daughter Shaun (Union) and her kids (Alexus, Carr) on their way to the old guy's high-tech home prior to its sale.

With her husband conveniently out of town, Shaun and the kids are soon confronted by four intruders, led by Eddie (Burke), who want the millions that Shaun's dad is reputed to have salted away in his safe. The source of this wealth is never revealed.

The kids are swiftly taken, but Shaun escapes, and a violent game of cat and mouse ensues, full of shapes, shadows and flits along corridors. Good for a gasp and a giggle. 'You're a woman alone, trapped at the mercy of strangers,' Eddie tells Shaun. Hah!

Nor should we place any reliance on such time-honoured lines as 'We're safe now'. Dialogue does in fact veer towards the dippy, but the action will keep you occupied, with Union a lithe and resourceful heroine. An undervalued and underused actress, she, as the film's producer, hands herself the plum role, Good for her, although in many ways the most interesting character in the film is Eddie's psycho sidekick (Cabral), who tells Shaun as he's about to finish her off that 'I wish I had a mom like you'.

Some critics have made the point that the intruders should be masked. But then why should they? - they weren't expecting company!

David Quinlan

USA 2018. UK Distributor: Universal. Technicolor.
87 minutes. Widescreen. UK certificate: 15.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 0, Violence/Horror 2, Drugs 0, Swearing 1.

Review date: 11 May 2018