The Owners (2020) User Reviews (190)

Starts Well But Goes Nowhere Fast

[omendata · 5/10 · 8 September 2020]

This movie started off well with some great acting from all concerned; the bad guy was particularly vile and that boded well for a good bloodbath/massacre but it all went downhill rather quickly as nothing much except a bit of a drama out of a crisis unfolded with little to no real horror; more of a comedy with a bit of drama and a smidgin' of horror thrown in for good measure.

Sylvester McCoy makes the film and I have always liked him; even as Doctor Who as he brings a lot more to the table than most actors these days but all of the actors were really spot on but they just had nothing to really work with scriptwise and I don't know about anyone else but I figured out what was possibly behind the safe from the beginning so the mystery was gone for me quite early on.

Disappointed as it looked like this could be a rival to the USA Don't Breathe movie but it has absolutely nothing in common but it does get an average 5 hatchets out of 10 as it will fill an average Friday nights viewing.

Watchable, sure. But there was a lot of wasted potential...

[paul_haakonsen · 5/10 · 11 September 2020]

Well, I wasn't really sure what exactly I was in for when I sat down to watch the 2020 movie titled "The Owners". However, I was intrigued by the movie's cover/poster, and it definitely had some appeal to me. And it looking like a horror movie, of course I was interested.

So I sat down to watch "The Owners", and yeah I was entertained by the movie. Writers Mathieu Gompel, Julius Berg and Geoff Cox definitely had managed to put together something that turned out to be interesting. Well, right up to a point, then the movie just started to lose momentum and settled into auto-pilot, then the movie just grew stale. That happened at the stage right after the big reveal of what was really going on.

The storyline was entertaining, sure, but up to a certain point about halfway through the movie - as I mentioned earlier. It was a shame really, because director Julius Berg really was phenomenal at setting the stage and lining up the suspense by gradually adding to the story. But once the reveal of the events took place, the air just escaped from the balloon, and the storyline became flaccid and sort of monotonous.

It should be said, though, that "The Owners" is a movie that is driven more by its strong and noteworthy acting performances than it was driven by the storyline. The movie had some very nice actors and actresses on the cast list, with the likes of Sylvester McCoy and Rita Tushingham. But most outstanding was Jake Curran, as he really stole the show with his performance.

The movie is labeled as a horror/thriller. I would say it has more emphasis on the thriller aspect than it does the horror. If you expect a scary horror movie, then "The Owners" is not the right cup of tea. However, if you are looking for a suspenseful thriller that has some punch to it, then this is definitely a movie well-worth watching.

I am rating "The Owners" a mediocre five out of ten stars. I would have given it six, but what happened after the great reveal midway through the movie, it just felt too monotonous and uneventful really. Mind you, this is not a boring movie. It does have some strong and good things to it, it was just a shame that director Julius Berg set the movie for auto-pilot halfway to the finish line.

Entertaining

[jbarile2000 · 5/10 · 6 September 2020]

I found it entertaining, predictable but still it kept me wanting to continue watching... I gave it five stars.. when I find a movie that can't keep my interest than I stop it! This definitely kept me entertained and that's what movies are supposed to do!

Lamesauce rip-off with no payoff

[ravencorinncarluk · 3/10 · 5 September 2020]

This is only unpredictable if you've never watched anything else of the genre. It rips off Villains, poorly, but tries to have a twist ending. A twist that was as dumb as everything else.

Doesn't help that the third act was cropped to a 4:3 ratio for no discernable reason.

Lacking originality, very predictable.

[a_p_hart · 3/10 · 5 September 2020]

Credit to Mccoy the former dr who and childrens tv presenter, he was dark, convincing and methodical in his actions, as well as his partner, i just felt the rest of the cast let them down.

The typical break into the rich peoples house, and what can go wrong, for everything to go wrong, was highly predictable, and the owners to be sadistic murderers protecting, house, wealth and hidden secret not a surprise at all.

As slowly the cast fell one by one, the usual rookie mistakes continued. Opportunities still came for a happier ending and escape, and one by one they screwed themselves over as was the general feel of the film.

For all the owners effort, and the partners madness, i honestly was disappointed by both story and acting of the others. With even the surprise at the end not really a secret with the emphasis around Kate.

Irritating Characters/No Thrills

[bbevis-47954 · 2/10 · 11 September 2020]

The character Terry. If you have seen this movie I should have to say no more. One of the most irritating characters in a horror movie I have ever witnessed. I could barely make it through this movie because every decision a character makes is unbelievable. The film is not scary or thrilling in the slightest. The twist ending was dumb and did not make it worth the effort of sitting through this terribly unoriginal piece of trash. I spent $8 so you don't have to. Seriously avoid this at all costs and watch Don't Breathe instead.

No house alarms but a few surprises

[aeongale · 6/10 · 4 September 2020]

I thought with Williams as the lead the rest of the cast would be low budget level actors but they all do a fine job, particularly McCoy who was Dr Who few years after Tom Baker. It has the usual idiot trope consisting of an utter tool, a mild tool, the coward that gets roped into dumb things by his tool friends, and the girlfriend that didn't want to be there in the first place. Follows a fairly standard formula of a house robbery gone wrong but without being predictable and it ramps up the tension quite well as the violence escalates. Enjoyable thriller overall.

stupid teen horror junk

[t-unknown-one · 2/10 · 4 September 2020]

It's shame to see the people who did such a great job of acting in GoT get stuck with these garbage roles, I'm pretty sure they wanted better for themselves, this is so far beneath Maisie Williams talents

One really strong performance

[natem-17414 · 7/10 · 4 September 2020]

The premise isn't terribly original, but it's worth watch for the incredibly creepy performance of the actor who plays the old man, and it never got boring

Solid

[daquandavis-95996 · 5/10 · 23 January 2021]

Well directed horror flick with great intensity. I enjoyed watching it and every character added an element to the film. I never knew what exactly was going to happen which was good. Overall, the rating this received is funny to me..... and is probably the reason why we constantly get generic horror films. It's a 7.5 for me.

So much better than people are giving it credit for

[jtindahouse · 9/10 · 8 September 2020]

4.6/10 (the current IMDb rating for this film) is criminally low. I strongly believe this is another case of people not liking character's decisions and blaming the movie for that. News flash: people don't always make the best decisions in real life either. Sure the movie wasn't perfect but for the most part I thought this was a ripping good time.

Maisie Williams being in this was what attracted me to see it, but in reality the real stars of the show were Sylvester McCoy and Rita Tushingham. I love it when some older actors are given roles that they can actually do something with. Too often older actors are basically just playing the stereotypical "older person", but that's certainly not the case here. They were given great amounts of freedom to work with and they nailed it.

This movie was tense, found goods levels of violence without ever being gratuitous, had a feeling that anything could happen and that no character was safe, and had a nice little twist at the end for the cherry on top. Please don't see the rating for this movie and think it is one to avoid. You will be missing a gem of a film. I highly recommend this one.

Not the same as Don't Breathe :)

[ochronus · 7/10 · 6 September 2020]

While the setting and the story is is somewhat similar the focus is not where it is in Don't Breathe. This one builds it up nicely, there's dynamics between the characters etc.. Not the best movie but definitely worth a watch!

Too unoriginal and predictable in its approach! [+38%]

[arungeorge13 · 4/10 · 5 September 2020]

What I didn't enjoy about The Owners is how big of a letdown it is after the film embraces its latter half twists. The first half is heist+home invasion clichés galore - a bunch of thugs looking to make some quick money by robbing a rich house fail to realize that the resident couple has some secrets of their own to hide. This plotline has now nearly run its course and needs truckloads of inventiveness to be taken seriously. While there have been a few surprises in this subgenre such as Don't Breathe and Villains, I don't think this film makes it to that list.

The screenplay meanders, the characters are all unlikeable (the film uses the pregnancy ploy to make audiences care for Mary, the character played by Maisie Williams, but it doesn't work), and the overall slackening of pace do the film no favours. There are zero scares and it's some bloodshed alone that tags it under the horror category. Watch one of the films mentioned above (or M.N Shyamalan's The Visit) instead.

Bad movie

[bagazi · 2/10 · 4 September 2020]

No action , no horror .very bad movie .i think if you watch that you will loss your time

What Maisie Williams is doing there???

[MoviecriticElyn · 3/10 · 4 September 2020]

I was, of course, attracted to the movie by its poster, showing a global star Maisie who for a decade was one of the main protagonists in the best fantasy series ever. So, naturally, from the star of this level, I was expecting nothing else than at least a decent movie. However, what I saw was a disastrous movie. Bad casting (except Williams), superbad screenplay, especially the dialogues, soo shallow. The most part of the movie I was just waiting for it to end, there was not EVEN suspense, just the naked curiosity of the ending (still not believing the movie is SO bad). Just a big waste of time. Watch better Hereditary, The Lodge, Elie, Reliq...

same old same old

[gadfly_mta · 1/10 · 5 September 2020]

This movie has been made a bunch of times already. break into a house to steal something and turn into prey.

6.7/10 Uneven and with many missteps, but engaging throughout

[nick-92775 · 7/10 · 6 September 2020]

I watched this last night and have struggled with my review of it. Overall, I found it to be visually interesting, with some tense scenes especially at the beginning. The acting was very good, although I feel like these characters needed more space to shine - we only get glimpses of brilliance from each of them.

There are some truly brilliant moments of direction and acting, and I really wish those were leaned into a bit more. The cinematography was lovely overall but could have used some more time in the editing room - especially the very ending, which felt abrupt and disjointed.

It's an exciting film, but not wholly satisfying overall. I loved the portrayals of some of these characters, but they are not done justice in the end. Also, for taking place in an enormous mansion, it felt shockingly small and like the setting was not utilized as well as it could have been. We're stuck in the same few rooms for most of the film, which really brings it down some.

I went into this knowing very little, and was somewhat pleasantly surprised, but feeling like it did not live up to its full potential. Not a bad film, but not great either. Wish the payoff was worth the sum of its parts.

Awful

[dctr666 · 1/10 · 27 September 2020]

This movie has nothing... Boring, stupid, slow... Unfortunately this is the kind of horror we have, nowadays... This is not a 1 out of 10...it's -10 out of 10. Run away from this crap

Owned

[kosmasp · 7/10 · 26 June 2021]

Certain things are ... well predictable. A home invasion movie like this can go one of two ways ... and I'd say you can tell fairly quickly how or where this is going. But you can still have fun - fun like the actors are having with the movie. On the other hand you may ask: do we care about the characters ... well that is something that I can't really answer for you. Maybe you need that, maybe you don't.

I just know that certain characters act in a very bad fashion .. in a way that does not make any sense at all. And works against their own interest ... but serves the story and the intensity of where it is ultimately going ...

What?

[epope-75082 · 2/10 · 5 September 2020]

I could tell this movie tried to be different and I don't usually care about originality unless I expect it. It was the lack of suspense and momentum for me. Also, I hope Maisie Williams never do a movie like this again. She deserves better

this is a great tale

[ops-52535 · 8/10 · 5 September 2020]

If you have lived to as old as i am, you will for sure remember the 1970's thames televisions short novel crime series ''tales of the unexpected'', and then you might think what an old sodder i am, but that series took the hold of many peole back then, and this maybe a newave or reviwal of the concept. on imdb its voted low, and i can understand that due to lack of slash and gory horror, and the pace aint high, but its extremely bizarre and twisted in its revenge and conclusions.

its a story about 4 friends, one stupid ,one bossy , one psychopatic and a girl with some conscience planning to do a nick on a old mansion somewhers rural britain. but their scouting and surveillance efforts hasnt been good enough sdpoiling more than this would ruin the whole shabang, just say its nifty business

the acting of the small cast and the choice of locations are brilliant, and the use of miss williams as the female part of the break in squad are just enriching the whole story.the screening format differs along the way, you wont notice so easily but on a small screen it will be visual. the filmography and soundwork, the score and set management do make this a gloryspot of british crime fun horror done the british way

if you are on the pivotal point choosing between this and other british movies of today, this one os clever, there are no way of survival, and how its done is just immense. a recommend from the grumpy old man

Why the negativity?

[markodroyd · 7/10 · 8 September 2020]

A great little British film, with a few twists thrown though out it. Though Maisie Williams is billed as the star of the film, it should be Sylvester McCoy who stole the show as the doctor/owner of this big house (though I misread the opening titles as Sylvester Stallone (which would of been a whole other movie). Rita Tushingham also plays the doctors wife well here as well. I spent the film swapping sides with who I wanted to get revenge/win, although there were many times a character did something forehead slappingly stupid that annoys me like it does in many a film. Gaz is also played particularly well also for his over-nastiness from his violence to the disregard he has to property, Mary was okay in it, and the other 2 guys were just sort of there to annoy me. Give the film a try, it's not the best film out there, but it's certainly not the worst either. No spoilers, but I'd of preferred if they cut the last 5 minutes from the film, it wasn't really needed, I'd of rather be left in limbo not knowing if there was an escape or not.

It Starts

[bemyfriend-40184 · 1/10 · 3 December 2020]

It starts well. I like Maisie Williams. I wish she had appeared in a better movie.

No story

[alex_antoniu · 3/10 · 6 September 2020]

Waw, didn't expect much from this type of movie but at least it should have had a plot, a twist something.....

Really not worth it

[elainagray · 2/10 · 4 September 2020]

What on earth are Maisie Williams and Sylvester McCoy doing in this?! Dull and ridiculous. Does has the odd moment which is why I gave it 2 rather than 1 stars, but honestly, don't bother. Go watch some grass grow instead.