Director: Trish Sie
Cast: Sadie Stanley, Malin Akerman, and Ken Marino
Rating: 2/5
The eagerly-awaited The Sleepover, which was released on Netflix a few days ago, is a mediocre attempt at storytelling that fails to make a strong impact. The film revolves around what happens when a few kids come together for ‘camp night’. The basic plot is interesting and has enough ‘masala’ to satisfy the target audience. The screenplay, however, is unable to do justice to the intriguing premise.
The narrative lacks ‘wackiness’, a key ingredient of films belonging to the action-comedy genre. Moreover, the writers focus more on showing as opposed to telling and this dilutes the impact of The Sleepover. Some of the scenes also feel a bit predictable. That said and done, the movie features a few memorable moments. The fight sequence in the initial portions of the movie might click with die-hard fans of the genre. Similarly, the chase scene towards the end is passable. ‘
The climax too, makes a decent impact despite being predictable.
Coming to the performances, Sadie Stanley puts her best foot forward and hits the right notes in a few scenes. Maxwell Simkins looks adorable and ups his game when needs. He is able to highlight the innocence associated with his character. Cree Cicchino does not make much of an impact.
Malin Åkerman, the ‘hero’ of the film, is sincere and impresses in the action scenes. Ken Marino is the scene-stealer of The Sleepover and elevates the film with his flawless comic timing. True Blood actor Joe Manganiello, however, fails to deliver the goods. The supporting cast is decent. Enuka Okuma is under-utilised.
The supporting cast serves its purpose.
The action-choreography is a mixed bag. While a couple of sequences keep fans hooked, others are not as good as expected. The cinematography is decent but fails to give the film, which is meant for a younger audience a lively look and feel. The background music is good and adds a new dimension to the reel action. The other technical aspects have been handled reasonably well.