The first thing H³ said when he saw the trailer for Do Not Open was “that looks bad”. So, I rented it immediately.  Not because I agreed with him—I don’t, necessarily—but because it’s exactly the kind of indie film I love to watch. There are two films that come up under Do Not Open, this is the one about the mysterious locked room, not the tech-inspired horror movie. 

• Directed by: Christopher Leto
• Written by: Patryk Godlewski
• Starring: Shawn Ray. Marisol Ray. Ricky Garcia

The Plot

Ethan and Claire find a locked “owner’s closet” in their vacation rental. Things start going wrong during their vacation, and sounds start coming from the mysterious locked room. Ethan’s paranoia about the room grows, and they both begin to act strangely. 

Do Not Open draws a lot of inspiration from The Shining. From the opening tracking a car through ominous rural landscapes and failing GPS, to the lightly bickering couple, the opening sets up the rough background of our characters. This is a couple trying to repair their relationship with a vacation. He has anger problems and honestly, she’s a bit of a nag. They have some quirky dialogue where they discuss the serial killer potential of the Airbnb-alike host, but these people don’t seem like they’ve spent a lot of time together. 

The Characters

The movie works very hard at making them equally antagonistic towards each other. In a lot of ways, this is a smart narrative decision. There isn’t a bad guy in the relationship. However, it does make them to hard to watch since neither of them is particularly likeable. For me, Ethan’s brand of outward abrasiveness was much easier to tolerate than Claire’s passive aggressiveness.

The characters have to do most of the heavy lifting here, as it’s really just the couple in the remote house.  What’s interesting to me is how a relationship can dissolve over something meaningless. In the case of Do Not Open, the audience knows the door isn’t as harmless as it seems. Ethan’s obsession and breakdown are likely justified, even if we don’t know why. Then Claire starts feeling the effects as well.

There is something really interesting about these characters. Claire’s dismissal of Ethan’s symptoms, but her total fear over her own, is a fascinating character bit by itself. It’s pretty true to her character; she’s written selfishly. She complains about not being thought of as crazy after calling her husband crazy for days. 

There are some truly interesting camera angles used to cover the low-budget aspect. “Stalker cam” is used effectively, as are some interesting drone shots. What was most interesting to me was how bleached everything looked. It’s a stark-looking movie in a very interesting way.  The filmmakers did the best they could with the budget they had, and much of it is tense and effective. 

The End- SPOILERS AHEAD

So, what is behind the door?  Well, there are things we know and things we never learn. The owner’s phone rings behind the door.  A red light glows from under the door from time to time, and smoke filters out. 

There aren’t any answers here. We could take the movie as it’s given, and it’s a story of two people trapped in an endless loop, driven so crazy they take they only way out that’s presented to them. There is enough established earlier in the movie to justify this take. 

It’s also possible that it’s all just about the death spiral of a failing relationship.  These are two people repeating the same actions long before the time loop kicks in. Endless bickering and the refusal to compromise leads to resentment that is deadly.  We don’t ever see what’s in the owner’s closet, and the chilling last shot certainly gives weight to the metaphoric interpretation.

Final Thoughts 

Do Not Open does not have stellar reviews, and I understand why. It’s slow with only two characters to carry the movie. There are no major jump scares, and it feels like there are some unanswered questions. H3 claims it was as bad as he expected. I think he’s wrong; we’ve seen MUCH worse. But it is the kind of movie where you have to appreciate what the filmmaker was going for more than the end result. 

Do Not Open is available on streaming.