Cellar Door – Movie Review (3/5)

CELLAR DOOR is a new psychological thriller starring Jordana Brewster and Scott Speedman. A surprisingly efficient movie that has a few nice twists. Read our full Cellar Door movie review here!

CELLAR DOOR stars Jordana Brewster and Scott Speedman as a married couple who move into a gorgeous house in a great neighborhood. There’s just one condition and obviously, this will end up being a huge problem.

I wasn’t sure if this would result in a very predictable story where you just get annoyed with the characters, but I was pleasantly surprised. The runtime is just over an hour and a half, and this suits the story very well.

Continue reading our Cellar Door movie review below. Find it in select theaters and On Demand from November 1, 2024.

A dreamhouse with one condition

It sounds too good to be true, but this truly isn’t the case. However, obviously the city-dwelling couple (Jordana Brewster and Scott Speedman) cannot believe their good fortune when they’re offered a house they could never afford in a neighborhood they really can’t afford either.

Yet this is exactly what happens to set things in motion in Cellar Door. Okay, one thing happens prior to this – the tragedy of a miscarriage – so they really do need a bit of good fortune.

Enter Emmett (Laurence Fishburne), who is supposedly someone who can help match people to their perfect home. For Sera (Jordana Brewster) and John (Scott Speedman), this house is in the suburbs of Portland, Oregon.

During their visit with Emmett in his gorgeous and grandiose home smack in the middle of their dream neighborhood, it all falls into place for the couple. Emmett gifts the couple his house!

There’s just one condition that cannot be negotiated; They must never open the cellar door. If they do, they immediately forfeit ownership of the house again. A small price to pay, one would think, but not knowing is a new burden.

Especially for John, who struggles desperately with imagining the worst. The fact that Emmett said “Old houses are indeed like people… They all have their deep, dark secrets” doesn’t help much. Instead, it fuels John’s imagination.

Very efficient psychological suspense

While Cellar Door offers some nice surprises in its final act, there are plenty of predictable elements before we get that far. And I don’t even mean that in any bad way.

We get hints and foreshadowing to help us catch on early. Quite a brilliant move as it allows other pieces of the story to move around in the background and surprise us later.

In certain ways, Cellar Door is a character-driven slow-burn movie, but at the same time, the efficient runtime keeps the pace tight enough that I never looked at the clock.

Watch Cellar Door on Demand or in select theaters

The director of Cellar Door is Vaugh Stein, who previously directed the movies Inheritance (2020) and Every Breath You Take (2021) among others.  Sam Scott and Lori Evans Taylor wrote the screenplay.

It’s based on a story by Sam Scott while Lori Evans Taylor is one of the writers on the upcoming Final Destination movie. The title is Final Destination: Bloodlines and it’s due out in 2025 (currently in post-production).

I really enjoyed how the premise of a Faustian bargain is at the center while leaving us all to wonder; Is this a good or bad deal? Or is it just a serious mindf**k?!

Well, you’ll have to watch this one until the end before all the pieces to the puzzle are revealed to show the full picture.

Scott Speedman (The Strangers) plays a character quite similar to the one he has just played in the Peacock series Teacup (make sure you check out that one as well). Except he’s a family man without kids in this movie.

And Jordana Brewster (The Faculty, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning) nails her portrayal of a woman who will not give up on her dreams. She’s loving, smart, and tough as nails when necessary.

If you like your thriller with a dark psychological twist that makes it feel like a downright horror movie at times, then Cellar Door is the choice for you. Enjoy!

Lionsgate is releasing CELLAR DOOR in select theaters and On Demand from November 1, 2024.

Details

Director: Vaughn Stein
Story: Sam Scott
Screenplay: Sam Scott & Lori Evans Taylor
Cast: Jordana Brewster, Scott Speedman, Addison Timlin, Chris Conner, Laurence Fishburne