Movie Review: Masquerade

Film, Reviews, Top Story

Bella Thorne in Masquerade - STACK | JB Hi-Fi

You will think twice before you let Bella Thorne (Boo! A Madea Halloween) give you a ride home at the end of a party after seeing Masquerade. Sure she seems nice and she did a wonderful job as part of the catering crew. But she know how to turn off the sweetness in the flash of a blade. This is a nasty little home invasion thriller that keeps up the intensity and twists the plot just right.

Olivia (Fifty Shades of Black‘s Mircea Monroe) is having the time of her life with her charity event that’s a masked party. The guests are mingling and the booze is flowing. Her husband Patrick (Bloodworth‘s Michael Proctor) is happy at the shindig. They are successful art brokers and enjoy the publicity that party will fetch them in the newspaper and with the elite of the area. They don’t worry too much about their daughter Casey (Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors’s Alyvia Ayln Lind) back home with the nanny (Ana Rodas). They match drinks with their guests which means by the end of the successful night, neither one is sober. Instead of risking getting pulled by the cops for drunk driving, the couple smartly consider getting an Uber home. Nothing destroys good publicity faster than a mugshot. But instead of breaking out the AP, staff caterer Rose (Bella Thorne) offers to give the couple a lift home since they’ve been so wonderful and she could use the money. They take her up on the offer. Except neither of them know that Bella is part of a conspiracy.

While Bella is behind the wheel driving the nearly 40 miles with the art dealing couple, she’s left her phone on. Who is on the other end? Two people dressed in black wearing black fencing masks. They’re already at Olivia and Patrick’s country estate. They’ve cut the power, broken inside and are ready to start stealing art. They are holding hammers to bust things up. Their plan changes quickly when one of them goes too far with the Nanny and Casey goes into hiding. It’s a huge house so there’s a lot of places to hide. But can she last long enough before her parents arrive home. And what’s going to happen to her parents when the pull up to the house?

Writer/Director Shane Dax Taylor has made an impressive tense thriller that basically takes place in three locations: the party, the SUV and the country house. But it doesn’t feel cramped. The sprawling house creates an endless amount of rooms for the thieves to bust apart while looking for art and the daughter. The 80 minute running time keeps the tension high and tight. When the thieves are in the house, the jeopardy angle goes high. You’re not quite sure who is going to survive the night in the art robbery. Bella Thorne does come off as pure evil as she really twists the knife in one of her victims. The twist at the end of the film makes the film more than a formulaic home invasion thriller. Masquerade will make you reconsider that home in the country as a safe place.

Masquerade premieres on Digital, on Demand and Select Theaters on July 30, 2021 from Shout! Studios. You can rent or buy on Apple TV, Amazon, GooglePlay, Vudu, and other streaming platforms.

Joe Corey is the writer and director of "Danger! Health Films" currently streaming on Night Flight and Amazon Prime. He's the author of "The Seven Secrets of Great Walmart People Greeters." This is the last how to get a job book you'll ever need. He was Associate Producer of the documentary "Moving Midway." He's worked as local crew on several reality shows including Candid Camera, American's Most Wanted, Extreme Makeover Home Edition and ESPN's Gaters. He's been featured on The Today Show and CBS's 48 Hours. Dom DeLuise once said, "Joe, you look like an axe murderer." He was in charge of research and programming at the Moving Image Archive.