‘Trust’ review: Trust us, it’s bad

Despite a thriller backdrop, Trust fails to muster up any intrigue with a lackluster and meandering script.

When the title card for Twisted Pictures, the production company for the Saw franchise, appears in front of a movie, you expect to be pummeled with blood, gore, and torturous acts that could violate the Geneva Conventions. However, with Carlson Young’s Trust, the only torturous act was getting through the 90-minute runtime.

Trust follows Lauren Lane (Sophie Turner), a renowned actress since childhood. When a hacker releases photos of her holding a positive pregnancy test, she tries to escape the media mayhem by staying in a countryside Airbnb with her dog, Georgie. But little does Lauren know that her vacation will be short-lived by two looming threats: a group of robbers looking to ransack the place, and a hit-man from the father of her child—a beloved older actor who played her father on a TV show— who is asked to “take care of the problem.” 

It’s hard to imagine the ultimate vision for this film, given that all the storylines go nowhere. The group of robbers and the grooming lover could have both been their own movies, but instead are woven together in something that’s severely underdone and essentially feels incomplete. 

Sophie Turner fails to impress in the poorly crafted Trust.

Turner’s performance is wooden and she receives little help from the undercooked script. Throughout the film, there’s not much to her performance or character beyond screaming and yelling out her dog’s name. There are a couple of flashbacks that seek to give her character a little bit of padding, but it doesn’t do much except take up screentime. It’s a shame because Turner is more than just Sansa Stark (she had great comedic timing as a villain in Do Revenge), but there hasn’t been much that has let her shine. 

The only character who is enjoyable to watch is Loretta (Katey Sagal), who finds Lauren’s dog on the side of the road. All we know of her is that she loves dogs more than people and has lost multiple jobs by caring for stray dogs instead of showing up to work. She feels like the most natural part of the movie despite having such a limited amount of screentime. 

The bottom line.

It’s shocking that Trust is having a theatrical release, since it feels like it should be in streaming’s equivalent of a bargain bin. Usually, even lesser-than thrillers have some semblance of fun and tension, but this has none of the above. It would’ve been more interesting to get a movie about Loretta’s make-believe dog rescue that she wants to open up. At least we could’ve had an opportunity to see Sagal as a badass again. 

Trust is out now in theaters. Watch the trailer below. 

Images courtesy of Republic Pictures.

Yasmin Kleinbart