Do Not Open is a film about a family who thrive on various digital platforms but when it comes to being back in the real world, they're a mess. The story is about a mom who has suffered from childhood trauma and is constantly watching self-help videos. Her actions match the words of the narrator of these videos. She trusts him so blindly that even if he'd say to take her own life, she wouldn't think twice before doing it. The dad is sex deprived and doesn't ask for any mental or physical attachment from his wife. Even if he tried in the past, he didn't get satisfactory responses and now is regretting his decision to choose a life partner. He wanders off to sleep with other women and the family is aware of this. One day while he was masturbating in his room, the son walked in and the feeling of disgust wasn't visible anywhere on the dad's face, instead his concern lay on why his son didn't knock on the door. The family dynamics are poor and this is a broken home.
The couple has two kids, a teenage son and a daughter. The family is quite unusual, much like the parents. Their son tends to be socially withdrawn and spends most of his time playing video games. Recently, he inappropriately groped a girl at school. Instead of teaching him to be a respectful and kind person, the father seems more interested in guiding him on how to interact with girls. This incident was met with strong disapproval from the mother, who responded by slapping him. I couldn't understand what this family was and how they operate on a daily basis.
The movie is filled with countless incidents and if one has to summarise what they saw in the film, it's an absolute waste of time. The events do not correlate with each other. Also, what was it with the father being sexually attracted to his own daughter? I understand that he was sexually frustrated but which dad in his right mind would do this? I think the movie pushed the topic a little too far in hopes of coming up with good content.
The daughter is the most normal one in the household. She's good at studies but the constant urge to impress others surrounds her. Just like her mom, she also maybe was suffering from some medical condition because she was seeing things that didn't exist in real life. For example, she saw a man standing next to her on the webcam but when she turned around no one was there. The network connection at the house was hacked due to weird things happening like conversations getting leaked, the entire bank account wiped off, and the making of a sex tape that was edited. If this aspect of the movie had been explored further, it would have had a better chance of gaining popularity and resonating with the audience. Additionally, the film's ending, which unfolded during the last thirty minutes, is another reason I didn't enjoy it. The storyline involved themes of phone addiction, haunting memories, and lust, which felt disjointed.
Overall, this is a movie that no one can understand and the acting is also terrible. It's just 90 minutes long and still feels so slow. There's not just one thing that can be pinpointed as the reason behind its failure and there are many. For starters, the face of the mother in this whole movie is like she's constipated and going through some physical pain. Do Not Open wasn't a suitable title for the movie, Do Not Watch is more appropriate.
Final Score – [2/10]
Reviewed by - Riya Singh
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Publisher at Midgard Times