The real horror of ‘Don’t Tell A Soul’ isn’t the man in the well; it’s suburbia

A review of the new thriller, on demand now

A Jane Austen quote opens new thriller Don’t Tell A Soul: “What strange creatures brothers are.” It’s from Mansfield Park, and in context it’s about men being unable to communicate their feelings to one another; here, in this film, it’s rather more literal. The brothers in question are teenage delinquent Matt (Fionn Whitehead) and his younger brother Joey (Jack Dylan Grazer), two kids trying to survive in a world that seems to have forgotten about them. Their mother (Mena Suvari) is sick with cancer and their father is dead, so all they have is each other.

One day, Matt tells Joey to follow him, and they hop on their bikes and ride off through the neighborhood. Smokestacks from the factory at the end of the block belch grey clouds into the sky. A nearby house has been tented due to a termite infestation, and Matt heard from a friend that the old lady who lived there has thousands of dollars in cash tucked away. He hands Joey a gas mask and tells him where to find the money. The younger boy is hesitant — he had no idea this is what he was getting himself into — and yet his brother clearly has power over him, so he ducks inside.