A middle-aged empty nester’s mundane life is upended when raucous new neighbors move in next door, unleashing potential danger and disruption.

‘Restless’ is a terrific little thriller that plays on the fear of having terrible, noisy, obnoxious neighbours who make your life a misery. Relatable because many people will have experienced it, and it’s always a possibility no matter how nice an area you live in (unless you’re properly rural of course!). I’m sure many UK readers will remember the TV series ‘Neighbours from Hell’ (reality TV before reality TV was omnipresent), and this is essentially a movie version!

It stars Lyndsey Marshal (who I haven’t really seen in much since ‘Rome’) as Nicky, a care home worker who lives alone with her cat after her son has gone away to university. Her parents lived next door, but as they have now sadly passed, the house has new people moving in, and it becomes apparent immediately that they aren’t going to be the type of neighbours you want. They have loud parties every night with obnoxious techno music until the early hours of the morning and when Nicky challenges Deano (Aston McAuley), it doesn’t take long for him to turn nasty and threatening. With a busy schedule at work and a severe lack of sleep, Nicky’s state of mind becomes increasingly frazzled and with limited help from the council or other neighbours, she begins to fight back, beginning a war of attrition that will severely test her resolve.

There is a darkly comedic edge to proceedings, largely through Barry Ward’s performance as an old friend/potential love interest to Nicky, although be warned there is some nastiness at play too. I felt the pacing was spot on in charting the escalation between Nicky and Deano, although it’d be amiss to not acknowledge that the initially established realism does increasingly give way to a more outlandish approach to storytelling. By that stage I was fully with it though, perhaps as the premise is one that really strikes a chord. Marshal is great in the central role as a woman at her wits end, and she’s more than matched by Aston McAuley who plays obnoxious incredibly well here.

‘Restless’ is an effective thriller directed well by Jed Hart, with a relatable premise and good performances. At 90 minutes long it comes and goes without overstaying it’s welcome and I was a big fan.

Rating: 4/5

Directed By: Jed Hart

Starring: Lyndsey Marshal, Aston McAuley, Barry Ward and Kate Robbins

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt27689356/