PUSH (2024)

New streaming on Shudder!
Directed/Written by David Charbonier, Justin Douglas Powell.
Check out the trailer here!!

After losing her husband in a car crash eight months ago, a very pregnant Natalie (Alicia Sanz) moves to Michigan to start fresh as a realtor. If she is able to sell an unsellable house—a house with a long history of violence and murder associated with it, then she will be all set with the new baby coming. After an uneventful day of no-shows, a potential buyer (Raúl Castillo) arrives late in the day. But after creeping her out, Natalie asks him to leave. Turns out the client has a history with the strange home and he does not take kindly to be told to leave it.

After two effectively creepy films under their belt (THE BOY BEHIND THE DOOR and THE DJINN) the filmmaking duo of David Charbonier and Justin Douglas Powell stumble a bit with PUSH. The film is roughly paced with a whole lot of build-up for Natalie to get the house ready, mourn her lost husband, let us know that she is preggers by rubbing her tummy a lot, and arguing with her mother on the phone. It’s not until a half hour in that things start to get creepy, but for some reason that first half hour dragged-ass. Maybe it is because of the small cast and that the entire film is basically following Natalie as she wanders from room to room in the house that slows down the momentum. It’s just repetitive shots of Natalie pittering around the house and rubbing her belly.

Once things get creepy with the arrival of the potential buyer, the pace perks up a bit. The tension between Natalie and the creeper as she tries to get him to leave the open house is well done. Basically, after the first half hour, the film turns into a lengthy cat-and-mouse chase around every corridor, nook, and cranny of the house. Yet still, I found myself lacking investment even during these tense moments.

One thing that kept me from getting into PUSH is that, while I know women had a baby in the fields and then fought a sabretooth tiger in the past, these days, it’s hard to believe someone can give birth and still fight off a home invader. There was nothing given to me about the character of Natalie that convinced me she would be able to do this. While I haven’t been fortunate enough to have a kid myself, I do know it is an exhaustive process that takes a whole lot of time. But once you see Natalie biting off the umbilical cord, I kind of checked out of this film for its lack of realism.

I also think there’s a missed opportunity with the buyer/stalker/home invader/crazy dude. When he was first introduced, I liked the stylistic choice to never really show his face as it was either off screen or obscured by shadows. Later in the film, David Charbonier and Justin Douglas Powell switch gears and simply show his face in well-lit and straight on shots. Basically, the killer here walks around like an unmasked Michael Myers, though he does talk from time to time. But had they kept the killer in the shadows the entire time, there could have been a much more effective use of horror—elevating the villain by bathing him in shadowy unknowns. The killer’s motivations were hazy, which I have no problem with, I wish they would have kept the face of the killer obscured for the killer to be elevated to the kind of mythic status I think the film was going for.

I didn’t hate PUSH. The final hour is a really solid chase sequence, that may have been a bit repetitive, but entertained, nevertheless. I’ll forgive a show build if when we do get to the action it’s rewarding and the extended chase moves along decently enough. But compared to their previous works, I just feel that this is a near miss for this powerful filmmaking duo. There is setup for a sequel in an after credits scene, and who knows, maybe we’ll get one and it improves upon the potential of this film.