I find it difficult to make it through the first 5 minutes of most contemporary horror films, but this film kept my interest all the way to the end. Shelly's origin story could've been a standalone film; in fact I think it would've been beneficial to the story to split this movie into two films. Stretching out the atrocities of her childhood into a feature length movie would have been a tough sell, however it would've given us a story with enough gusto to really stand out and be something special. I think this film wants to be unique, and parts of it are refreshingly vile, however reducing Shelly into a typical slasher with no real motive other than envy or jealousy just left me feeling disappointed. Yeah, I get that she's traumatized from her past. Lashing out at the only person who showed her any kindness in her life didn't make a lot of sense. If she would've targeted more deserving people like her mother it would've been much more satisfying - at least it would've shown a clear motive for her rage. I like the ending, I thought it was a good callback to her childhood. I think Shelly's origin and subsequent imprisoning of her mother would've made a much more disturbing film and the sequel could've been her obsession with Alice and her imprisoning in the end. Everyone loves a franchise.
Review of The Cleaning Lady
