Come Play

I really wanted to see Come Play when it was first released in October but, for one reason or another, I never made it.  I noticed that it was still playing in theaters and, since I had nothing to do last night, I decided to see it.  To be honest, the main reason I wanted to see it is because of Azhy Robertson who was so good in Marriage Story.  This time Robertson is Oliver, a young autistic boy who is non-verbal and uses electronic devices exclusively to communicate.  He is bullied by the kids at school and his parents, Sarah (Gillian Jacobs) and Marty (John Gallagher, Jr.), argue about what is best for him so he finds solace in watching Spongebob Squarepants whenever he feels isolated.  A children's story called Misunderstood Monsters suddenly appears on his phone and tablet and he reads about a monster named Larry who has no friends because he is different.  Larry tells Oliver that all he wants is for him to be his friend.  At first Larry manifests himself through various electronic devices but he soon enters the real world by draining power from electricity, most notably from lights, to terrorize everyone.  Ultimately, Oliver must decide if having Larry as a friend is better than having no one.  Reviews have been mixed but, while I wouldn't call this a great movie, I liked it more than I thought I would.  Robertson's performance is the best thing going for this movie (most of the other performances are incredibly bland) and, even though he has almost no dialogue, his facial expressions and body language convey so many different emotions.  He is riveting, especially in the scenes where he is overstimulated.  The message that screens are no substitute for human interaction gets a bit muddled in the execution but it is definitely thought-provoking, especially now when so many things are virtual rather than face to face.  There are a few really menacing sequences, particularly when Larry appears in front of Oliver's friends at a sleepover (which is incredibly scary!), but for the most part the narrative relies on cheap jump scares rather than on atmosphere.  It is inconsistent but I enjoyed it enough to recommend it to fans of the genre.