The Intruder parents guide

The Intruder Parent Guide

Formulaic and predictable, the only bright spot here is Dennis Quaid's over-the-top performance.

Overall C-

Young, successful, and ambitious, Scott and his wife Annie buy a beautiful house in California’s Napa Valley. What they didn’t see during the walkthrough was that the owner is a little too attached to the property, and worse, that the owner is a little less than stable…

Release date May 3, 2019

Violence C-
Sexual Content D
Profanity C-
Substance Use B

Why is The Intruder rated PG-13? The MPAA rated The Intruder PG-13 for violence, terror, some sexuality, language and thematic elements.

Run Time: 102 minutes

Official Movie Site

Parent Movie Review

When Scott (Michael Ealy) and his wife Annie (Meagan Good) decide to move out of the big city, they find a charming home in California’s Napa Valley. The owner, Charlie (Dennis Quaid) is a little unusual, but is very motivated to sell the house to the young couple. Shortly after moving in, however, Scott and Annie realize that Charlie seems unwilling to leave the property alone. Charlie is, in fact, unwilling to give up on anything he wants, and can be dangerous when he doesn’t get it…

Let’s start with the negatives. The Intruder suffers from that near-epidemic Hollywood ailment - a formulaic story with little room for excitement or surprise. Indeed, much of the plot can be forecast twenty minutes in advance, which is not a good trait in a thriller. Not only is it predictable, it feels exaggerated almost to the point of satire. The soundtrack is also flawed in that it’s frequently at odds with the setting and tone of the movie. While the score does a respectable job of amplifying the horror in the film, the rest of the soundtrack seems limited primarily to pop hits which sound strangely out of context in the quaint country home.

On the plus side, the film manages to be pretty fun for the sole reason that Dennis Quaid has taken his role and cranked it up to eleven. Do not expect any kind of subtlety or nuance here: Quaid is rocking at least a 75% Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson’s role in The Shining) the entire time. Which is a really fun thing to watch, even if it makes the plot a touch more unpredictable (I mean, come on - would you buy a house from a man who shoots a deer two feet away from you at your first meeting?) The other advantage this movie has is its brevity. Clocking in at just over an hour and a half, and with brisk pacing throughout, The Intruder manages not to outstay its welcome.

Obviously, this is not a film suitable for young children or teens, thanks to its poor grades in sexual content, violence, and profanity. That said, for a film in this genre, the PG-13 rating does indicate that some of these issues have been toned down. With maybe a dozen total profanities and little explicit violence, this thriller isn’t actually terribly unsettling. The sexual content sounds pretty gross, and the attempted sexual assault is certainly wince-inducing, but the other instances of sex are mostly make-out sessions between a married couple.

Despite its comparatively mild content, The Intruder isn’t a particularly good example of the horror/thriller genre. With its obvious and overdone plot and its complete lack of subtlety, it’s never going to be a great movie. Frankly, the only thing saving it from being a total waste of time is Dennis Quaid’s high-key crazy, set-chewing performance. If you’re looking for scares or quality film-making, look elsewhere. If you’re looking to have a good time with Dennis Quaid, this might be your kind of show.

Directed by Deon Taylor. Starring Meagan Good, Dennis Quaid, and Michael Ealy. Running time: 102 minutes. Theatrical release May 3, 2019. Updated

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The Intruder
Rating & Content Info

Why is The Intruder rated PG-13? The Intruder is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for violence, terror, some sexuality, language and thematic elements.

Violence: A deer is shot, and then cleaned. A character is struck in the head with an empty wine bottle. An individual commits suicide offscreen, although some blood is shown. An individual is sideswiped by a truck. A person is struck in the midsection with an axe. A corpse is shown with blood on it. Someone is killed with a shotgun, although the actual killing occurs offscreen. There are several instances of hand-to-hand fighting. An individual is thrown off of a second floor balcony in a house. A person is struck in the head with a bottle. An individual is choked. A character is stabbed in the shoulder. An individual is struck in the face with a baseball bat.
Sexual Content:   A married couple is shown in a kissing passionately while clad only in underwear several times. A woman is shown from the shoulders up in the bath, and then shown through a steamed-up shower divider. A man attempts to sexually assault a woman, and is shown trying to kiss her, and later shown licking her neck and chest while she is unconscious.
Profanity: There are three or four uses of moderate profanity and one use of extreme profanity. There are also around half a dozen minor profanities and terms of deity.
Alcohol / Drug Use: Adult characters are frequently shown drinking wine socially, typically with a meal. One individual is shown drinking several shots in rapid succession. Several individuals are shown smoking cigarettes.

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The Intruder Parents' Guide

Scott and Annie think they have bought their dream house, only to have their dream turn into a nightmare. Have you ever been disappointed when something you looked forward to turned out to be less than what you expected? How did you resolve the situation

Loved this movie? Try these books…

Agatha Christie’s whodunit, And Then There Were None, is a terrifying but not gory novel about being trapped on an island with a homicidal madman. Her novel Murder on the Orient Express features people trapped on a snowbound train with a dead body…and a murderer.

In Anne Perry’s Cardington Crescent, a woman is found dead, strangled with her own hair. The family are trapped in the house with the killer until Inspector Thomas Pitt can find out whodunit. This is the eighth in this Victorian murder mystery series.

If you are looking for a creepy story of romantic obsession, turn to Emily Bronte’s classic novel Wuthering Heights. Throw in a brooding Yorkshire atmosphere, and you’ve got a book that can move from eerie to scary, especially when read on a dark night.

Home Video

The most recent home video release of The Intruder movie is July 30, 2019. Here are some details…

Related home video titles:

Jack Nicholson’s horror classic The Shining is the best example of a “trapped in a house with a psycho” film.

Other lower intensity horror thrillers include Greta, which has a similar premise but is a better film. Jordan Peterson’s films, Get Out and Us are also horror films for people who want to be scared but don’t like excessive amounts of gore.

All of these films are only suitable for adults and older teens who have a high tolerance for scary movies. Sensitive, squeamish, or easily frightened viewers should probably steer clear of this genre.