Horror Movie Review: Don’t Look Away (2023)

Don’t Look Away is one of those really frustrating horror movies that starts off strongly and slowly gets worse as it goes on. Committing the sin of giving its villain basic rules to follow, then throwing them out the window as the film grinds to a halt.

Directed by Micheal Bafaro, who also wrote the story with Michael Mitton, the opening few minutes of Don’t Look Away is both thrilling and mysterious. Two thieves that are hoping for a big score, end up dead when they discover the truck that they are robbing houses a creepy looking mannequin. One, in a panic, ends up being hit by college student Frankie (Kelly Bastard) as she is driving down the road. Traumatised by this, she makes the mistake of looking in her rear-view mirror to see the mannequin in the road.

A mistake because this is no ordinary mannequin. It’s actually a supernatural entity that pursues those who have gazed upon it. The only way to survive is to not look away.

Up to a point – this becomes an element that feels less and less important as the film goes on. The rules surrounding the mannequin changing to fit the characters and to find a resolution that is disappointing.

It is inevitable, that with a villain like this, you write yourself into a hole. Think about it, if it can only move when you look away, shouldn’t every blink mean it gets closer? It might seem pedantic to pick up on stuff like this, but it matters because it was written this way. It could be forgivable if, as the story developed, we got more details and lore surrounding the entity, but the film is very light on that.

It makes the mannequin a difficult thing to find scary because what it can and can’t do is so undefined. Which in turn makes any investment into the character’s plight feel pointless. Although, with these basic set of characters, investment in them is extremely difficult anyway.

Forgettable and unlikable, with some really subpar acting from a few secondary characters, Don’t Look Away isn’t going to be remembered for its stars. In fact, by time the surviving few have all gathered together, the pacing has slowed to such an extent, many may find themselves switching off completely. Especially as unearned relationship drama becomes the focal point.

It should be remembered for the creepy vibes and inventive use of a mannequin to commit horrible deeds. Instead, this unoriginal idea gets so confused, it becomes downright frustrating to watch. Leading to an ending that thinks its so clever, but just adds a disappointing cherry on top of an already disappointing watch.

It’s not the worst film you’ll ever watch, far from it, as Micheal Bafaro has talent as a director and that comes through in certain scenes, but it’s not the successor to It Follows that it wishes it was.