Cellar Door

October 30, 2024

MOVIE: CELLAR DOOR

STARRING: SCOTT SPEEDMAN, JORDANA BREWSTER, LAURENCE FISHBURNE

DIRECTED BY: VAUGHN STEIN

AMovieGuy.com’s RATING: 2 STARS (Out of 4)

RATED: R

RUN TIME: 97 MINUTES

There’s a memorable moment in Family Guy where Peter Griffin is offered a choice between a new boat or a “mystery box.” In his typical fashion, Peter quips, “A boat is a boat, but the mystery box could be anything—it could even be a boat.” This sentiment encapsulates Vaughn Stein’s mystery film Cellar Door, which revolves around a couple offered a luxurious mansion with the caveat that they must never enter the cellar. While this premise seems straightforward, the film leans heavily into temptation as its central theme, putting both its characters and the audience through unnecessary anguish. The simplest solution? Just find a different house.

The story follows John (Scott Speedman) and Sera (Jordana Brewster), a married couple reeling from the recent tragedy of a miscarriage. In their grief, they seek a fresh start and are introduced to Emmett (Laurence Fishburne), a mysterious businessman who offers them the mansion. He invites them over for dinner, presenting the house with the infamous cellar door stipulation. As they settle in, the narrative shifts to explore their marital struggles, including John’s infidelity and the temptation of the forbidden cellar.

Cellar Door evokes comparisons to Richard Kelly’s The Box, where characters face moral dilemmas tied to their desires. Unfortunately, the screenplay by Sam Scott and Lori Evans Taylor fails to utilize the mystery effectively, relegating it to a background temptation rather than a driving plot point. Instead, the focus shifts to John’s clandestine relationship with a co-worker, leading to predictable scenes of him contemplating the cellar but never actually entering it. While this repetitive tension could work in a different context, the payoff at the end falls flat.

Without giving away the major reveal, it’s clear that Cellar Door fails to deliver any real thrills or suspense. Speedman and Brewster give solid performances highlighting their talent, but they can’t elevate the material beyond mediocrity. A concept like this could thrive in the hands of a Twilight Zone episode or a well-crafted Stephen King tale, but Cellar Door seems too hesitant to unleash its potential, opting instead to keep the intrigue locked away.

2 STARS

CELLAR DOOR OPENS IN THEATERS FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2024.

Written by: Leo Brady
leo@amovieguy.com