Common Sense Media Review
By Brian Costello, based on child development research. How do we rate?
age 13+
Violence, jump scares in entertaining thriller.
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Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Intrusion is a 2021 thriller in which a successful married couple move into their dream home, only to discover horrific truths in the aftermath of a home invasion. Expect some thriller violence throughout and jump scares galore. A missing woman is discovered chained to a chair and traumatized, and another woman is soon also tied up with her mouth sealed shut with tape. Home invaders are shot and killed. A character is bludgeoned in the forehead with a figurine and killed; some blood. A woman is shown being dragged by her hair as she screams. Fighting with punches and kicks. Some language, including "bulls--t," "s--t," "pissed," "damn," and "bitch." Wine and cocktail drinking. One of the lead characters gets into a car accident after being a distracted driver.
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Violence & Scariness
some
Home invaders are shot and killed. Woman who has been kidnapped is shown being dragged by the hair by her assailant. Character bludgeoned in forehead with a skyscraper figurine, killed. A missing woman is shown traumatized, tied up in a chair, and held prisoner. Woman tied up in a secret lair. Fighting with punches and kicks. Jump scares galore, including a barking dog, and flashbacks to a home invasion. Car accident, no injuries.
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Language
some
Infrequent profanity, including "bulls--t," "s--t," "pissed," "damn," "bitch."
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See AlsoIntrusion (2021) | Rotten Tomatoes‘Intrusion’ Review: Freida Pinto Stars in a Netflix Home Invasion Thriller That Could Have Been Much MoreGet started
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Drinking, Drugs & Smoking
a little
Wine drinking on a dinner date. Cocktail drinking at a party; husband says that his wife has had too many mojitos as a way to explain her disappearance from a housewarming party.
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Sex, Romance & Nudity
very little
Woman shown in a shower, filmed from the back, no nudity.
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Products & Purchases
very little
Uber mentioned by name.
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Diverse Representations
very little
Meera is an Indian American woman who has just moved to a small New Mexico town with her husband. Some people of color at a housewarming party.
Did we miss something on diversity? .
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Positive Messages
none
No positive messages in dream-home-turns-nightmare thriller.
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Positive Role Models
none
Movie centered on upscale married couple with successful careers, but all is not what it seems.
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Intrusion
Parent and Kid Reviews
See all
- Parents say (1)
- Kids say (3)
age 16+
Based on 1 parent review
Cakelady878 Adult
September 25, 2021
age 16+
See all 1 parent review
What's the Story?
In INTRUSION, Meera (Freida Pinto) and Henry Parsons (Logan Marshall-Green) have just left Boston to move into their dream home near a small town in New Mexico. Henry, a successful architect, designed the home, and it seems the perfect place for the couple to begin a new life after Meera's recent breast cancer scare. Moved in, Meera resumes her career as a therapist, and the couple seem to be living an ideal life. These illusions are soon shattered when, after a dinner date, Meera and Henry return to find that their home has been broken into and vandalized, with their smartphones and laptop stolen. Meera is traumatized by the robbery, and Henry takes steps to secure the home, including installing a high-tech home security system. While they try to settle back into normalcy, one night while they are sleeping, the home invaders return. They tie up Meera, but after Henry frees her, she learns that Henry keeps a gun hidden in one of her plants, and as she escapes to the car, he kills them. While talking to the police after the home invasion, the investigators tell Henry and Meera that a family of career criminals on the poor side of town were behind the home invasion, and that also the daughter of the family went missing one month ago. As the discovery of the gun has already created an air of mistrust between Meera and Henry, they try to pick up the pieces and move on with their lives. Meera begins to harbor new suspicions. After he forgets his wallet while driving to the store, Meera follows him and discovers that he wasn't actually going to the store. A look at Henry's GPS history reveals other visits to out-of-the-way and very questionable locales. While Henry tries to put Meera's mind at ease, further investigations begin to reveal some ugly truths, and Meera must discover what really happened with the home invasion, and how nothing in her life is what it seems.
Is It Any Good?
Our review:
Parents say (1):
Kids say (3):
This is an entertaining, if not exactly groundbreaking, thriller from the "This Dream Home Is Not What It Seems" file. Intrusion has its moments, as the plot twists twist and the jump scares scare. Suspension of disbelief frays but doesn't completely rip away. Successful architect Henry has designed a dream home for himself and his wife Meera as they escape the "rat race" of Boston to live on the far-enough outskirts of a New Mexico hamlet. It's easy for the audience to get as wrapped up in the seemingly good taste and luxury of this dream home, even as it starts to gradually sink in that it doesn't have much warmth, as it's all angles and gray, as impersonal as an Ikea showroom. Soon enough, this house becomes as tiresome as the close-up jump scares of Meera chopping produce at the kitchen island, and so by the time the third act story payoffs unfurl with visual menace and discordant horror movie synth tones, the movie ends as it teeters on the edge of wearing out its welcome.
The quality of the acting is what keeps viewers engaged, even as you're likely to later question plot points that seem a little too forced. Meera, who is traumatized and anxious through much of the movie, suddenly finds the strength to enter a sketchy trailer park, break into a trailer, and steal some mail. They've just moved to this small New Mexico town, but already seem to have a large group of friends, friends who look like they stepped out of advertisement banners for trendy upscale condominiums under construction. There are other examples, but in spite of this, it's an entertaining thriller.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about thriller movies like Intrusion. How is this similar to and different from other thriller movies? What makes an enjoyable thriller?
How did the movie use jump scares as a way to create suspense and even fool the viewer into thinking that something real was happening to the characters? Why do you think jump scares are such a big part of thrillers?
Were you surprised by any of the plot twists in the movie? Why or why not? How are plot twists often the thing that makes or breaks thrillers?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : September 22, 2021
- Cast : Logan Marshall-Green, Freida Pinto, Robert John Burke
- Director : Adam Salky
- Inclusion Information : Female actors, Indian/South Asian actors
- Studio : Netflix
- Genre : Thriller
- Run time : 92 minutes
- MPAA rating : NR
- Last updated : February 17, 2023
Did we miss something on diversity?
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Intrusion
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