Radicalism takes center stage in Come with Me, a slow-moving but tense thriller about one man’s indoctrination into violent and victimhood.
Radio host Dalton Kirby (Ron Perlman) is an ever-present fixture of blue-collar worker Simon’s (Theo Rossi) life. Kirby, an unshakable and uncensored presence, spews rhetoric insisting that America as we know it us under cultural attack, and that the average American is on the verge of becoming a victim of cancel culture and ought to bear arms. Kirby’s radio show is background noise to Simon as he cycles through the mundanity of everyday life. He clocks in at work, getting a beer with his best friend Gary (Ronnie Gene Blevins), living with a girlfriend (Kate French) who’s itching to get married.
The toxicity of Kirby’s increasingly hateful, isolationist views is merely noise to listen to on the way to work, or while exercising, but Simon increasingly empathizes with his ideology. A shocking death rocks Simon’s world and a home invasion destroys his sense of privacy. And after shifts in management leave Simon’s job in jeopardy, it’s enough for him to start looking for a system to blame. Rebecca, his girlfriend, is rattled by these events, but becomes more concerned about Simon’s increasing extremism.
A tense, slow-burn thriller.
Director Aaron Harvey, working from a script cowritten with Jonathan Croom, captures Simon’s paranoia with the keen understanding that he’s not a hero, but an unstable figure whose pursuit of justice is at odds with life’s inherent unfairness. Simon’s life becomes increasingly unfortunate, but encouraged by Kirby’s insistence that there’s a sinister plot to upend the lives of everyday, off-the-radar Americans, he starts to believe he must incite a violent reckoning to quench his own sense of justice. It’s deliberately unsettling, and Harvey expertly navigates that tone.
Photo Credit: Vertical Entertainment
Perhaps the most striking artistic choice in Come with Me is initially only utilizing Perlman in voiceover. Perlman does appear onscreen eventually, after so much of the film utilizes his powerful voice, to extraordinary effect. It’s an exercise in deliberately restrained filmmaking, allowing its true leading man to take center stage. Rossi strongly executes his leading role. He plays Simon as a man torn between desperation and exhaustion and placing his trust in the wrong ideals. Simon’s empowerment, initially built on a genuine desire for justice, explodes into a shocking quest for violence.
Perlman’s narration is ever-present in Come with Me, functioning almost like an omniscient narrator as Kirby’s views slowly permeate Simon’s thoughts. It leaves a strong impression of Kirby’s influence in this world without detracting from Rossi’s performance. But that restraint stretches the film into, at times, meandering detours into silent, unbroken shots, emphasizing the isolation of Simon’s inner life. After a while, the point feels made. Its slow unfolding, at its best, and an effective tension builder, but overly stretches out its otherwise reasonable 108-minute runtime.
The bottom line.
Come with Me isn’t your typical thriller, taking its time to build to its most gripping sequences. When it really kicks into gear, moving from a portrait of mundanity into a drama about the consequences of self-victimization, it’s a searing, timely cautionary tale. The progression of the plot is inevitable. Simon’s journey takes unsurprising, but nonetheless distressing, turns as it barrels towards its explosive, tense conclusion.
Harvey’s keen directorial focus and clear vision for Come with Me‘s impact is palpable. It’s an uncomfortable mirror held up to our current times. The film asks the audience to hold themselves, and the people around them, accountable for the voices they listen to. It’s a simple concept executed without much flash or fuss, but with a gripping command of tone. Come with Me is an unforgettable journey down a disturbing rabbit hole.
Come with Me hits select theaters on Friday, September 4. Watch the trailer below.
Images courtesy of Vertical Entertainment.
REVIEW RATING
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Come with Me - 7/10
7/10
Claire was once asked in elementary school why her go-to question was always, “Watch anything good lately?” It’s still her go-to question, because she loves hearing what other people are passionate about. She often sacrifices sleep in the hopes that she will one day clear her to-watch and to-read lists (a futile effort so far).
