When I herd about the twist in Come Play that it would feature Autism with it's featured character Oliver (played by Azhy Robertson) I had an mixed reaction. I've worked with children of all ages with Autism form many years and just like my students parents I imagine would be, I was a little sensitive to see the condition played out on screen in a horror film. Well I can happily report that Come Play puts the viewer into the perspective of a young boy with Autism as well as the family and friends that would be trying to help him quite well!
Oliver has no verbal skills when the movie starts so our monster "Larry" who uses tablets or devices with screens to enter our world sees an easy victim to target. Amblin Entertainment produced this movie and right away you have the vibe that Poltergeist gave, and the film while containing some very creepy moments, relies on the cast's performance (just like Poltergeist) to make us feel the terror that our characters are feeling. Both Gillian Jacobs and John Gallagher Jr. are good in this film as Oliver's parents, but I was most impressed with Winslow Fegley's performance as Byron (Oliver's
best friend) who acts with skills way beyond what I wold imagine his actual age is!
The monster in the film is pretty creepy and cinematography definitely adds to the suspense. This isn't the scariest movie I've watched this year, but during a year where visits the movie theatre have been very sparse sadly, I'm glad I got to see this one on the big screen.
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