Tone-Deaf: A Poignant Yet Weird Horror Movie

*Spoiler-Warning*

Tone-Deaf is a funny, intelligent slasher movie, about generational divides and dysfunctional families.

Amanda Crew plays an unemployed, chronically-depressed twenty-something, renting a vacation home from a mentally unstable widower played by Robert Patrick. Crew’s character feels lost and confused, while Patrick’s feels deranged and perpetually angry at the modern world. Both performers expertly capture the tensions and anxieties of millennials and baby boomers in a way that is both tragic and funny. Yes, the characters are basically borderline stereotypes of these age groups, but they’re well-written, three-dimensional versions of those stereotypes, each with their own struggles and desires.

The film was a lot gorier than I thought it’d be. I don’t want to go into details, but let’s just say that it earns it R-rating, even ignoring the language and dark subject matter. Though I wouldn’t say it’s as gory as some of the classic slasher films from the 1980s.

The thing I liked most about this movie was how it handled its weightier themes. It deals with some very heavy topics such as depression, suicide, relationships, mental health, and family. But instead of plunging into somber melancholy or hollow despair, the film opts for more creative, at times bizarre methods to…