Stream It Or Skip It: ‘I See You’ on Netflix, A Generic Home Invasion Flick With One Good Narrative Gambit

Though I See You was released in theaters back in 2019, it’s burning up the Netflix charts in 2023. What’s behind the surging interest in this horror flick? Surely having Oscar-winner Helen Hunt on a tile helps cut through the noise on the platform. But there’s more than just star power here – and Hunt is far from the main attraction, even if she’s the selling point to get some users to press play.

I SEE YOU: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: I See You opens with quite a sight: a 9-year-old boy knocked off his bike in the woods like he’s hit some kind of force field. It sets the backdrop for the film’s tensions nicely with several missing kids hanging over the Harper family. Luckily their house is big to make room for all the animosity they feel toward one another! Mother Jackie (Helen Hunt) committed an act of infidelity prior to the events of the film, angering her police detective husband Greg (Jon Tenney) but most of all their angsty teenage son Connor (Judah Lewis).

As if Greg’s investigation into the disappearances isn’t enough new drama to bring into the mix, strange things start happening around the house. Things go missing. People get locked into rooms. Items fall from the roof. Jackie’s old flame returns. (Maybe the final one is unrelated.) It’s unclear to the Harpers if they’re being invaded by strangers, haunted by a ghostly presence, or just tormented by their own family members.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: While not nearly as sadistic as something like Funny Games or Panic Room, there’s a similar vibe with a menacing presence terrorizing a family in their private domicile.

Performance Worth Watching: Not the Academy Award winner Helen Hunt, believe it or not! (Though I’m sure she got a nice check for her brief bit of filming.) It’s rising star Owen Teague as Alec who proves the scene-stealer of I See You. He’s really got the creepy, crawly young male characters down … but he always provides an interesting hint of humanity just when you think they might veer toward cliché.

Memorable Dialogue: “What’s the point if we don’t make them question their sanity a little?” (Any further context omitted for spoiler’s sake.)

Sex and Skin: Of all the things to see in I See You, there’s nothing in the sensual department.

Our Take: There’s a big second-act reveal in I See You that’s worth leaving unspoiled. It might not redeem the movie necessarily, but it’s arguably the only reason to watch it at all. This twist reframes everything we’ve seen before by essentially playing back what we’ve already seen happen to the Harpers from a different perspective. It’s clever and interesting, but the first half is just excruciating enough that it’s hard to justify sitting through just to get to the back half. Director Adam Randall relies on all the genre hallmarks – the ominous phantom camera, disembodied ironic music – to disguise the thinness of what I See You has to offer. And Devon Graye’s screenplay, while not without its flashes of inspiration, ultimately goes one twist too far.

Our Call: SKIP IT. I See You is nothing that hasn’t been, well, seen before. There’s some cleverness in its construction that might delight genre enthusiasts, yet a strong mid-section gets tainted by the painfully obvious opening and closing bits.

Marshall Shaffer is a New York-based freelance film journalist. In addition to Decider, his work has also appeared on Slashfilm, Slant, The Playlist, and many other outlets. Some day soon, everyone will realize how right he is about Spring Breakers.

Watch I See You on Netflix