Of all the films that have been released this year, there are none that are quite like Significant Other. For better and worse, it is an audacious experience that takes some mighty big swings at an ever-moving target that it connects with just enough to work. It places us in the shoes of a young couple, Harry (Jake Lacy) and Ruth (Maika Monroe), on a backpacking trip into an isolated forest somewhere in the Pacific Northwest where, unbeknownst to them, something mysterious is now lurking. If this sounds like a story you’ve seen many times before, let me assure you that you absolutely have not and may never again.
The reasons for why that is require an enormous degree of secrecy as the film itself thrives on subterfuge. While they are very different in both setting and tone, it is much like Barbarian in that revealing too much would compromise the chaos of the experience. The less that you know the better as the film is a relatively short one that, in many ways, would have benefitted from going further into the potential it uncovers around the 45-minute mark. It does retroactively prove to be both rather snarky and silly as you think back on some of the key exchanges between the couple. Both Monroe and Lacy help sell this as you begin to wonder how much you can really trust either of them. Each of them are great in the quieter cutesy moments the couple share as well as the ones when everything kicks off. One moment where Lacy cheerily ambles over and says “Hey, there you are” is absolutely perfect. The context of this moment and his delivery makes it nothing short of spectacular in what it represents.
The film does take its time in getting there which doesn’t drag as much as it leaves a lingering desire for a bit more time to have been spent on sitting with the end. When we first meet Harry and Ruth, the little interactions they have end up setting the stage for the narrative swerve to come. Writing/directing duo Dan Berk and Robert Olsen, who previously worked with Monroe on 2019’s similarly sharp Villains, delve into these two respective people with just enough of an emphasis to establish their distinct characteristics. Harry wants commitment and security in the relationship while Ruth would rather just be happy as they are. As they both banter and bicker, the film teases out the nuances of their respective personalities. It isn’t a deep character study by any means, instead playing out as a slice of life drama that soon shifts into being a story that is infused with a science fiction element that can literally slice them to pieces. It is once the other shoe drops that everything really takes off in glorious fashion.
There is a good chance that this moment will alienate some viewers who were buying into the more grounded elements of the story. It is a work that lives or dies on whether you are willing to go along for the ride it takes you on. On a second watch, knowing how it all plays out, there are a few cheeky lines that prove to be incredibly yet intentionally silly when understood in context. While not an outright parody, there is an element that borders on being a riff on a film like Annihilation or Under The Skin. It is nowhere near as good as either of those, but it still manages to be good fun in its own way. Even when you can feel a bit of its budgetary limitations, it doesn’t skimp on the necessary technical craft where it counts. There is a creeping score from Oliver Coates who notably worked in the music department on the aforementioned Under The Skin, that feels once again like a key reference point, as did the composing for the outstanding upcoming film Aftersun. On top of that, it creates some rather unsettling sequences via solid effects work which proves to be both macabre and menacing. Even when it doesn’t always cohere with what the rest of the film itself is going for, there is no denying just how well-crafted all the nuts and bolts of the filmmaking are.
Through all of this, Monroe remains a magnificent performer who makes the material that much better. While this is not strictly a horror film, she brings the same sense of poise that helped make this year’s Watcher such a spectacular and sinister work. Though her character ends up falling into a silence for a large portion of the runtime, she speaks volumes with how she carries herself. The way she can hold a stare or give a quick smile before returning back to being deadly serious is mesmerizing. The film deploys this in a manner that initially feels like it could be rather dire before revealing that all we had assumed is not necessarily the case. Without Monroe giving a commanding central performance in these moments, it is hard to imagine it having as much of an impact. The way her presence is then juxtaposed against Lacy’s increasingly ludicrous performance elevates everything in the experience.
What regrettably tempers the engagement with the film is how much it feels like it is being held back and ends before it can really get into letting loose. Even as it gets into some more unexpected narrative ground that opens up many intriguing doors for it to go down, many of them end up getting shut in our face. Much of this is by design and serves a purpose though there is still much that is left hanging for us to only grasp at. All of that is something you’ll have to take in for yourself because, again, any specifics about this will spoil what is still plenty of fun. It just doesn’t quite reach the heights it ought to and proves to be one of those instances where a work would have benefited from taking more of a leap into the unknown than it fully did here. When it embraces an eerie and enigmatic tone that subsequently gets turned on its head, Significant Other still boldly proves to be a film worth getting lost in.
Rating: B-
Significant Other premieres on Paramount+ on October 7.