Better Watch Out

"You might be home but you're not alone"

Director: Chris Peckover Year: 2017 Runtime: 89 min IMDb: ⭐ 6.7
Movie Poster

Synopsis

On a quiet suburban street tucked within a 'safe neighborhood', a babysitter must defend a twelve-year-old boy from strangers breaking into the house, only to discover that this is far from a normal home invasion.

At Christmas time, 17-year-old Ashley is babysitting precocious 12-year-old Luke Lerner. Luke has romantic feelings for Ashley and unsuccessfully attempts to seduce her while watching a horror film. Strange happenings outside put Ashley on edge, but it ultimately appears to be just Luke's best friend, Garrett, who has arrived to visit. Hearing a window break upstairs, the trio find a brick inscribed with "U leave and U die." Garrett panics and runs out the back door, but is apparently killed by an unknown shooter. Shocked, Ashley and Luke run upstairs and hide in the attic. Ashley almost breaks her neck from a fall but Luke catches her. After they run into Luke's room and hide in his closet, a masked intruder armed with a shotgun walks in. Ashley recognizes the mask as one of Luke's and tells the intruder to take it off, revealing Garrett. Ashley realizes that Luke was hoping to seduce her by scaring her and staging a rescue. Angered, Ashley berates Luke before Luke knocks her unconscious. Luke binds Ashley with duct tape, forcing her to play truth or dare. Her boyfriend Ricky arrives at the house after receiving a text message sent by Ashley earlier, though it is later revealed to have been sent by Luke. When Ricky fails to find Ashley, he realizes that something is wrong. Luke tries to knock him out but fails. Attacking Luke, Ricky is threatened by Garrett with the shotgun. Luke knocks Ricky out and they tie him up beside Ashley. While Ashley uses a shard of glass to cut herself free, Luke hits Ricky with a paint can, killing him. Horrified, Ashley threatens Luke at gunpoint, before realizing that the gun is empty. She tries to escape to a group of carollers outside, but Luke uses the brick tossed through the upstairs window to knock her out again before she can alert them. Luke calls Ashley's ex-boyfriend, Jeremy, claiming that she wants him to write an apology letter. While Jeremy does so, Luke hangs him from a tree, making the apology look like a suicide note. Garrett has a change of heart and starts to free Ashley, but is killed by Luke. Luke stabs Ashley in the neck and stages the scene to frame Jeremy. Afterward, he goes to bed and waits for the return of his parents, who contact the police. Ashley survives, having placed duct tape over the stab wound to stop the bleeding. Luke watches from his bedroom window as Ashley gives him the finger before being wheeled into the ambulance.

Summary adapted from TMDb and Wikipedia sources.

🎄 Holiday Cheer Breakdown

Holiday Cheer Level: 4

Content Warnings

⭐ IMDb Parents Guide 🛡️ Common Sense Media

a dog dies
spoiler The kid talks casually about killing his friends hamster a few times. I don’t believe the way he killed the hamster is described or mentioned.
someone is sexually assaulted
spoiler Non-consensual groping
a pet dies
spoiler Mentioned only
there are bugs
Yes
a cat dies
spoiler A cat runs in front of the car at the beginning of the movie, but she slams on her breaks and the cat is shown to be fine.
there are spiders
spoiler 8minutes 30: Spider runs across the screen, it is picked up, and let outside. It then cuts to it outside. Scene lasts about a minute and a half. 28minutes: after they go in the attic, a spider crawls on the main character, she then falls back and it's shown crawling on her face 1hr 19minutes: the spider is shown being picked up and put in a container
animals are abused
spoiler A cat is kicked at one point towards the end of the movie- though the motion isn’t seen on-camera, there is a blatant audio effect insinuating it.
there's a dead animal
Yes
an animal dies
spoiler Not on screen but a kid talks about killing a hamster intentionally.
a child is abandoned by a parent or guardian
spoiler If by abandoned you mean his parents left him to go on a date then yes
someone gets gaslighted
spoiler The main antagonist routinely gaslights another character during the majority of the runtime.
someone is stalked
spoiler Beginning of the movie implies someone is being watched
a woman is brutalized for spectacle
Yes
there's domestic violence
spoiler Kind of. The whole film is a boy abusing the babysitter he's had for years so she could be seen as part of the family at that point.
there's child abuse
Yes
there's addiction
spoiler Oxycontin mentioned but nobody present in active addiction
alcohol abuse
spoiler Underage drinking
someone uses drugs
spoiler A child smokes marijuana, and then another character is forced to smoke as well.
someone is sexually assaulted onscreen
Yes
sexual assault on men is a joke
spoiler At one point the idea of forced sexual acts that would involve a man is breifly mentioned
someone is drugged
spoiler Ashley’s boyfriend is made to smoke weed against his will (to make the story make sense) Luke’s plan is to roofie Ashley as well, although this doesn’t happen
a woman gets slapped
Yes
someone is beaten up by a bully
Yes
someone's mouth is covered
spoiler A character's mouth is repeatedly covered with duct tape
rape is mentioned
Yes
there's pedophilia
spoiler There’s pedophilic undertones with the boy being into his babysitter. She doesn’t like him back tho, but still off putting for some.
someone is restrained
spoiler Ashley is tied to a chair for a sizeable portion of the film. Her boyfriend is also tied to a chair but not for quite so long.
there's excessive gore
spoiler I think it depends on people’s definition of what excessive gore is. A lot of it is off camera but it’s still a gory movie nonetheless. It’s not in your face kind of gore. I’d still approach this with caution as always if gore isn’t your thing.
someone's throat is mutilated
spoiler Ashley is stabbed in the throat. It’s not explicit at all though
someone struggles to breathe
Yes
someone asphyxiates
Yes
someone breaks a bone
Yes
hands are damaged
spoiler Not graphic - a character cuts their hand with a piece of glass, but it's not shown closely
somebody is choked
spoiler Asphyxiated via hanging, yes
someone is stabbed
spoiler Ashley is stabbed in the neck. It’s not explicit, Luke puts a switchblade to her neck and presses it. She gurgles and then passes out. It’s assumed by the characters that she has died, but it’s revealed she lives
Someone becomes unconscious
spoiler Ashley is hit in the head and falls down the stairs, she’s shown as unconscious. She wakes up some time later
someone is crushed to death
spoiler A head is crushed, but purposely isn't shown
there's finger/toe mutilation
spoiler main character cuts her hand on a piece of glass while attempting to cut her bonds, not much detail is shown but we hear her gasp and see blood dripping
there's genital trauma/mutilation
spoiler A boy is hit in the balls.
there's shaving/cutting
spoiler No self harm but a character cuts her hand/wrist with a piece of glass
there's torture
Yes
someone falls down stairs
spoiler The babysitter is pushed down the stairs after the movie's setup.
heads get squashed
spoiler you don’t see it
there's body horror
spoiler Idk what movie whoever voted no was watching.
there's decapitation
spoiler No decapitation but multiple characters suffer head/throat injuries
there are hangings
Yes
a kid dies
spoiler Spoiler: The best friend/accomplice of the 12 year old antagonist gets murdered by the main antagonist. I assume he’s close in age to the main character, so probably 12-13 years old.
a minor is sexualized
spoiler Minors discuss sex explixitly in multiple instances
a major character dies
Yes
someone dies
spoiler Ricky, Jeremy and garrett
someone is kidnapped
spoiler Multiple characters are held against their will.
trypophobic content is shown
spoiler One character gets stabbed in the cheek with a pencil, and is made to blow smoke through the hole against his will
there are mannequins
spoiler There is a life-sized cardboard cutout but no mannequins
there are jump scares
spoiler They’re minor jumpscares. Nothing too big or anything.
there are razors
spoiler No razors but one character grips a piece of broken glass and blood is shown.
someone vomits
spoiler Whole Movie is safe <3 Have fun watching it!
there's spitting
Yes
someone wets/soils themselves
spoiler One character intentionally urinates themselves as a distraction.
There's audio gore
spoiler Gore in the movie is usually depicted with audio and the reaction of other characters to it.
there's incarceration
spoiler Cops/paramedics are present very briefly and have no lines
there's a hospital scene
spoiler The end of the movie involves an ambulance.
there's menstruation
spoiler Only mentioned.
there's a claustrophobic scene
spoiler There are multiple scenes in the beginning where characters hide in small spaces, though these are relatively brief.
someone has a meltdown
Yes
someone has a mental illness
spoiler Depends on your definition - one character displays many characteristics of antisocial personality disorder/sociopathy
reality is unstable or unhinged
spoiler Betrayal happens throughout the movie
a mentally ill person is violent
spoiler A child who shows many sociopathic tendencies is the main antagonist.
Someone attempts suicide
spoiler [SPOILER] A character is made to look like they committed suicide
someone dies by suicide
spoiler there is a faked suicide
there's screaming
Yes
there is obscene language/gestures
Yes
there are sudden loud noises
Yes
someone is watched without knowing
spoiler Beginning of the movie, follows "I can see you" phone call trope a la Scream
there is a baby or unborn child
spoiler Character mentions a fetus
an LGBT person dies
Yes
someone speaks hate speech
spoiler There are some homophobic lines and some super misogynistic lines
there's a large age gap
spoiler A 12 year old boy constantly makes unwanted passes and sexually harasses his 17/18 year old babysitter. Very disturbing and disgusting
religion is discussed
spoiler Movie is Christmas themed
there is sexual content
Yes
someone is sexually objectified
Yes
someone loses their virginity
spoiler Virginity is discussed
the ending is sad
spoiler The antagonist has no consequences or redemption, and the protagonist survives but has no recovery or vengeance. The last scene implies the antagonist can continue to cause harm to the protagonist.
there's end credits scenes?
spoiler There is one brief scene a few seconds after the credits roll
a car honks or tires screech
Yes
there's blood/gore
Yes
there's gun violence
spoiler There are multiple occasions throughout the movie where guns are held as a direct threat against other characters, and one is fired on at least one occurrence towards the end.

Add to Your List

Open this movie on a tracker to watchlist, rate, or review.

Metadata

Where to Watch:
Netflix Netflix Free Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video Free Peacock Premium Peacock Premium Free Philo Philo Free Screambox Amazon Channel Screambox Amazon Channel Free FlixFling FlixFling Free Netflix Standard with Ads Netflix Standard with Ads Free Amazon Prime Video with Ads Amazon Prime Video with Ads Free Peacock Premium Plus Peacock Premium Plus Free Midnight Pulp Amazon Channel Midnight Pulp Amazon Channel Free Bloodstream Bloodstream Free Kanopy Kanopy Free Hoopla Hoopla Free Plex Plex Free Plex Channel Plex Channel Free Fawesome Fawesome Free The Roku Channel The Roku Channel Free Fandango at Home Free Fandango at Home Free Free Tubi TV Tubi TV Free Amazon Video Amazon Video Rent Apple TV Store Apple TV Store Rent Google Play Movies Google Play Movies Rent YouTube YouTube Rent Fandango At Home Fandango At Home Rent
All options on JustWatch ↗

Tags:

No tags yet.

Log in to add tags.

Holidays:

Trailer

User Comments

No comments yet. Be the first!