Listen Carefully (2024)


REVIEWER RATING: 
5/10

DIRECTOR:

CAST:


Imagine the pressure of a newly promoted assistant bank manager, while simultaneously balancing those responsibilities with becoming a brand-new father to a beautiful baby girl. It’s enough to drive a man wild with anxiety, stress and perhaps…paranoia?

Andy is a workaholic which we learn can easily become detrimental to one’s sanity when paired with focusing on home-life duties. So, when his wife treats herself to a girls’ night out, it’s vital that Andy concentrates solely on his daughter Abby during this night of bonding. However, when the strain causes his worrisome nightmares to interfere with his reality, he awakes to find Abby has disappeared without a trace. And the kidnapper only leaves behind the “owl” baby monitor to instruct Andy how to save his newborn.

Grappled with the fear of his work discrepancies coming to light, the voice on the other end of the monitor begins to initiate a blackmail scheme as trade-off: $250k for the return of his precious baby, plus a hush on his illegal activities at the bank. Seems simple enough! Typical ransom, which goes horrendously wrong in all different directions.

Andy’s pace is erratic and inconsistent, while being forced to hit ATM after ATM as he clings to this owl for his heroic deliverance of money in return for his child. The inauthenticity of his manic moods swings faster than a pendulum on speed as the nightmares ensue and we are forced to decipher between real life and his version of male post-partum depression.

When Andy is close to making the final drop, he is faced with another baby monitor, another “voice of god” and additional instructions as to who is the ultimate antagonist and more importantly…where is baby Abby?!

The best performance prize is given to the ‘Steve Buscemi-like’ owl voice that constantly mocks and taunts the frazzled father into a lunacy beyond his comprehension. So, what is more important to Andy? Finding his daughter, or covering for his indiscretions? Who should he trust? And what is exactly real?? Seriously…this should be training manual on baby monitors and their range, as not much sensical pursuit is put in place. It’s less of a mind-fuck, and more of a mind-yawn.

OVERALL: 
Moments of horrific intensity flash through Andy’s dream sequences until we are scratching our own heads in disbelief. What started strong (Andy being chased by a mob of baby-mask wearing maniacs) instantly dissolves once he shakes it off and directs his attention back to his job. We are left with unexamined illicit business deals, overburdened obligations as a family man, and delusions of saving his abducted baby from unseen captors threatening to expose his transgressions. It has the bones of a great thriller. Unfortunately, Listen Carefully just failed to thrill me.


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