Locked Movie Review – Bill Skarsgård and Anthony Hopkins Grind Out an Unbelievably Good Action-Thriller

Right now, Hollywood wonders how to create movies that people pay to watch. Should these films have bigger budgets? An all-star cast? A gimmick? The answer might be simpler: Hire director David Yarovesky. In Locked, he demonstrates how he can do a lot with little and unleash a fast-and-furious story that has everyone gripped from beginning to end.

Locked shuts the doors immediately

Yarovesky drops the audience smack-bang in the middle of Eddie Barrish’s (Bill Skarsgård) woes. He doesn’t have enough cash for his van repairs and fails to pick up his daughter, Sarah (Ashley Cartwright). So, what does Eddie do? He gets sticky fingers. Even so, this doesn’t give him the amount of money he needs to pay for his repairs.

Eddie needs to think bigger, so he targets vehicles to see if any of them have been unlocked and there are items of higher value on hand. He strikes gold when he spots an unlocked black, luxurious SUV. Easy in, easy out, right? Once he steps inside, though, he can’t get out. Eddie soon finds out that the car’s owner, William (Anthony Hopkins), created a trap and has been waiting to enact his brand of justice for a long time.

Like a mouse lured to a cheese-filled trap, the audience gets pulled right into the claustrophobic Locked. Yes, the trailer doesn’t lie: Bill Skarsgård’s Eddie remains trapped inside a vehicle for pretty much the whole movie. Unlike John Kramer from Saw, who offers his victims a chance to escape (at a physical and mental price, of course), William doesn’t do the same for Eddie. Instead, he tortures him. He deprives him of food, controls the temperature of the car, and taunts him about his fate. That isn’t all, as William eventually takes remote control of the SUV and forces Eddie to watch helplessly as William escalates the encounter to horrifying levels.

Bill Skarsgård and Anthony Hopkins bring their A-game

Naturally, since Locked is centered around the interaction of two characters, it requires strong performances from the leads. It’s further complicated by the fact that one of them is off screen until the third act’s thrilling finale.

For Bill Skarsgård, he’s on his own in a car (look, it helps it’s a cosy SUV, because imagine if it was a Toyota Tazz) for the majority of the running time, so he uses the space and his body movements to showcase a man starting to unravel – physically and mentally. He cycles through various stages of emotions, teetering between raging anger and hopelessness as he can’t figure out how he’ll get out of this mess.

In Anthony Hopkins’ case, his vocal performance fluctuates necessarily. There are moments when William appears calm and kind, somewhat reassuring Eddie that everything will be okay. Then, he flips a switch into full psychopath mode and lets him know there’s only one outcome guaranteed.

The simple story explores the imbalance of society

Michael Arlen Ross’ script isn’t complicated. In fact, the premise is quite simple: William believes society has failed to regulate itself. The arms of justice don’t work, and no one fears the consequences of their actions. Resultantly, he decides to take matters into his own hands and take action against criminals, such as Eddie. Yet, William fails to realize one thing: The same society lets down people like Eddie. Crime is intrinsically linked to the socioeconomic challenges created by the imbalance of society among the haves and havenots. The greater the imbalance, the higher the crime rate.

Eddie agrees with William that his actions of stealing are wrong and expresses remorse, but William lacks the ability to direct his wrath in the right direction: To the people who help further the divide (which also includes someone like himself). Locked doesn’t provide a solution to society’s problems – apart from a call for everyone to understand each other – but maybe that’s the point. All it takes to change the world is more compassion and empathy for thy neighbor. When it isn’t shown, situations become untenable and everyone loses.

Is Locked worth watching?

There’s a special genius in Locked‘s simplicity. It’s the type of movie that will have other filmmakers and creatives saying, “Gosh. Why didn’t I think of that?” For the audience, this action-thriller accelerates out of the gates and refuses to slam on brakes right until the end. In short, Locked is unbelievably good and deserves to be experienced.

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