may have been the reason her initial request
to rent the house was denied, while Charlie’s,
an hour later, was accepted. Her suspicions are
hardly assuaged when, arriving at the property,
the host, a guy named Taylor who lives up the
street, appears to be a prejudiced jerk. In any
case, the two couples are determined to have a
great time: nice hikes, good meals, and a bit of
recreational drugs, to get in the mood.
Then, in the hot tub, the simmering chemistry
between Charlie and Mina bubbles to the
surface, and they end up getting it on in the
shower. Which makes it very inconvenient when
Mina soon discovers there’s a camera in the
shower head. They’re convinced that creepy
Taylor is recording them.
Oh, and Josh’s dog goes missing — heck, they
weren’t supposed to bring a dog anyway. But
still, a missing pet is often the first sign of things
going wrong in a horror film.
The best scenes in the film go to Vand, whose
role as the emotionally conflicted, strong-but-
scared heroine is the meatiest in the script. Brie
is also compelling, though she has less to do.
Franco (her husband) directs the proceedings
— a taut 88 minutes, perfect for these distracted
times — with a sure hand, keeping us interested.
He’s said he based the story on his own
“paranoia” about online rentals like Airbnbs. Of
course, he was also inspired by “The Shining”
— the pioneering real-estate porn horror film
(but very pre-Airbnb) for which there really is
no substitute.
But Franco has made a briskly entertaining
debut feature, a nice way to spend an escapist
summer evening. Not from your Airbnb, though.