Paradise Cove Review: A Gorgeous Setting For This Couple Locked In Paradise

Release date: February 12, 2021
Running time: 103 minutes
Stars: Todd Grinnell, Kristin Bauer Van Straten, Mena Suvari
Directed By: Martin Guigui
Written By: Sherry Klein

Todd Grinnell (“One Day at a Time”) and Kristin Bauer van Straten (“True Blood”) also star in the Martin Guigui-directed thriller, the story of a contractor and his wife who move to Malibu to flip his mother's beach house and are terrorized by the deranged homeless lady living under the house.

Paradise Cove starts off with a classic opening text that evokes films from the 80s.  It is a nice touch to ground this film and one that is helped by the beautiful setting.  Set on the beach in Malibu, the movie is easy on the eyes with rolling waves and sand, and a house that overlooks them.  And when their dream home starts to turn into a more of a nightmare, the level of harassment that they experience is creative and excruciating.  And it has been great seeing Mena Suvari back on the big screen, in What Lies Below and now in this film!  Todd Grinnell does a great job as Knox, and he is generally the most believable of the characters.  And Kristin Bauer Van Straten is absolutely deranged as Bree, with an unpredictable calm to her.

However, this film has some hit or miss writing.  Some of the characters lines were a little too obvious, and the way that everyone interacted with Bree was a bit odd, but does help to keep the story moving.  And the story, although it puts the couple through a lot of harassment, feels like it goes on for too long.  It seems like some more could have been cut to make it a smoother experience.  The effects are generally well done, with a few instances of movie magic showing, but those aren't overly distracting.  But some of the murders that happen just conveniently do not get discovered, and Bree is able to operate far past what I would imagine would be allowed.  It is a little infuriating for the viewer (and I guess this was also part of the premise of the film) for all these crazy situations to happen around them, only to have them be ignored.  And the premise for the story feels far fetched.  It is enough to get everyone in this scenario and to have the chaos happen, but don't expect all the holes to be filled in this beach house renovation.  

Paradise Cove has a gorgeous beach setting to escape to, but the film overstays its welcome with its long run time and unbelievable plot.

Pass on it.

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Paradise Cove is available digitally and on demand February 12, 2021.

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