Review by Jon Donnis
Babak Anvari brings his latest film direct to Netflix, I Came By follows a young graffiti artist who discovers a shocking secret that would put him and the ones closest to him in danger.
George MacKay plays Toby, a "Yoof" type that likes to graffiti; however, he likes to graffiti within the homes of the rich and powerful, and paints the words "I Came By" and somewhat threatening gesture I guess to prove how easy it is to break in.
Toby usually does these jobs with his partner in crime Jay (played by Percelle Ascott), when Jay finds out his girlfriend is pregnant, he decides that he needs to retire from his extra-curricular activities, and as such, Toby decides to do the next job on his own.
Jay had previously picked out former Judge Hector Blake (Hugh Bonneville) as a target, so Toby breaks into the Judge's house so he can graffiti. Once inside Toby finds the basement, and sees a light under a hidden door, he investigates further, and well if I tell you, well I give away a major plot point, but if you have seen Don't Breathe, then you can probably guess. Ah screw it, it is what I would describe as a beaten up, decrepit man, probably a sex slave of some kind.
Toby tries to tell Jay what he saw, but in a movie cliche I absolutely hate, instead of just telling him straight away, there has to be this ridiculous verbal joust, with Jay saying he is not interested and he has retired from the game etc, and Toby being unable to speak normal English and just say "I saw ....."
Eventually Toby calls the police, they turn up at Judge Blake's house, they have a look around, and Blake throws the Superintendents name at them to show how well connected he is. They soon leave.
Eventually Toby calls the police, they turn up at Judge Blake's house, they have a look around, and Blake throws the Superintendents name at them to show how well connected he is. They soon leave.
Toby returns to the house to try and rescue to the man, but Blake comes home, and just as toby goes to attack him, he slips on some blood, and well that is the end of him.
The rest of the film sees Jay and Toby's mom try to find out what happened to Jay, and the police investigating the Judge.
The rest of the film sees Jay and Toby's mom try to find out what happened to Jay, and the police investigating the Judge.
Throw in some generic twists and turns, and you have a pretty standard and straight forward thriller.
Hugh Bonneville saves the film, and uses his experience to really nail his part as the duplitious and evil former Judge with all the right connections.
The main problem with the film is that for the first 40 odd minutes, we are following the Toby character, and then suddenly we jump to his mother and the Jay character, of which we have no emotional connection whatsoever. Don't get me wrong, Toby was a thoroughly dislikeable character, but at least there was some investment as to what he was doing.
What this leaves you with is only one character that you are interested in, that being Judge Blake.
The Good
Hugh Bonneville is excellent as always, and you will hate him for all the right reasons.
The Bad
Very paint by numbers type, algorythm created Netflix thriller that will leave you a bit empty by the end.
Overall
If there is nothing else on, then check this out on Netflix, it is not a bad film by any means, it is just not particularly good either.
It is positively average.
I score I Came By a safe 5/10
Out Now on Netflix.
https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/81477746
