Netflix film “Windfall” gathers a set of characters in this sleepy suspense film, reviewed by Ela Bicera.
Windfall as defined by Merriam-Webster, is something (could be leaves or fruits) blown down by the wind. Windfall is considered a blessing, a sudden luck or advantage for whomever receives it. Every character in this film had their windfall, but a huge cost was required to get it.
Windfall (2022) is about a guy who’s robbing a billionaire’s vacation house, and to his surprise, the billionaire and his wife turned up to have a secret getaway from their daily responsibilities. And so what should’ve been a simple robbery turned up to be the weirdest hostage situation, and eventually a crime scene.
The characters are nameless, only fitting for their “respective” roles. A high-headed and dismissive CEO, a submissive and ignored wife, and an entitled yet cowardly robber. None of them are scared of one another, they’re more likely cautious on who’s going to make the first move. The film showed how all of them felt in their scariest and weirdest sleepover. The CEO and the Robber are trying to figure out one another, both of them using the wife to their advantage. But she’s not up to their mind games. She’s the only patient character, waiting for the whole situation to end while trying to coordinate with both of these guys’ needs. But seeing that both her ignorant husband and the stupid robber aren’t cooperating, eventually she did end the whole thing.
The film has the same mix of feelings that I loved and expected from his first feature film The One I Love (2014). The thrill, a bit of comedy within, and a striking twist that you’ll never imagine in your wildest dreams. I also loved how he came back with the one-location set up, because he’s so good at having his characters explore the whole area together without making us feel tired or crammed seeing them. The huge and spooky scoring made by Frank and Diego Gaeta is such a classic horror/thriller formula, making us feel like it’s taking us back to those 1950’s thriller films.
This is Charlie’s second collaboration with Jason Segel and Academy-Award nominee Jesse Plemons, while this is his first time working with his real-life wife Lily Collins. The cast were marvelous, just proving how Jason and Jesse are such great chameleons of actors. Lily Collins truly shined in this film. Her performance as the wife just ended her usual rom-com or drama characters. With her great portrayal, her character is now noted as part of the “good for her” trope.
Even with a restricted and small production crew, Charlie got a lot of known people to participate in this film. The cast were also part of its 12 producers, and it also got Jason Segel to write, along with Charlie and his writing partner Justin Lader, and also Se7en’s writer Andrew Kevin Walker.
Five years after he made The Discovery (2017), Charlie McDowell’s Windfall is his film comeback and also his second film distributed on Netflix. While it’s not favorable to many, Windfall is still quite nice to watch, having the cast explore simple characters that are out of their usual preference and make a modern-day noir with a mix of comedy and weirdness.
