'Cellar Door' Fails to Impress Critics

         On November 1, 2024, Lionsgate released 'Cellar Door', which has received predominantly negative reviews from critics. In the film, "A wealthy homeowner offers to give his beautiful estate to a couple who's looking for a fresh start. However, their dream home comes with one unusual caveat -- they can never open the cellar door." The ensemble cast includes Scott Speedman, Jordana Brewster, and Addison Timlin. But what did the critics say?

       Brian Orndorf of Blu-ray.com says, "Scott and Taylor don’t follow the potential of the cellar door, quickly putting the mystery on the backburner to deal with relationship issues between Sera and John. For the architect, his work life has been derailed by sexual harassment allegations from Alyssa, putting him on suspension, unable to tell his wife what’s going on. He builds a layer cake of lies instead, struggling to handle Alyssa and the fallout from their affair. This is the tale “Cellar Door” wants to pursue, aiming for a psychological study of a dishonest man trying to stop his life from unraveling. “Cellar Door” periodically returns to the unknown, as John uses his free time to figure out an alternate route into the basement, and he researches previous owners. There’s also the discovery of a bullet buried in a wall." Adding, "It’s very strange to watch “Cellar Door” avoid becoming a more suspenseful film. The writers are clearly trying to use a MacGuffin to help explore what becomes a melodrama of sorts, getting away from the unknown to highlight troubling behaviors and burgeoning insanity. A dissection of marital trust is the final destination of the movie, but the writing just isn’t strong enough to pull off the magic trick of misdirection. Director Vaughn Stein (the consistently underwhelming helmer behind “Terminal,” “Every Breath You Take,” and “Inheritance”) doesn’t add enough visual tension to the effort, and his command of casting leaves much to be desired. The feature ultimately becomes a study of relationships put to the test, which isn’t nearly as enticing as the secrets of the cellar door."

Photo by Alice Voigt on Unsplash