Villains

Donovan and Sedgwick are just as fantastic. They exude such a calm demeanor that it instantly registers as creepy while still caring for each other. Being a threat and a romantic could not have been easy, but they pull it off with transcendent ease. Not to be outshone, is Baumgartner. This young lady has no lines but works beautifully in her role. She is believably scared of the intruders in the house, while also disliking her captors. Plus, she nails the physical comedy of the part and convincingly turns it into a whole cohesive character.

Their performances, slightly over the top yet still ground in realism as they are, are given a tremendous boost from the meticulous set design. The house is modeled to be the perfect nuclear family, post-WWII, rise of suburbia abode, which only adds to the creep factor of George and Gloria. Their fruit bowl on the kitchen counter holds wax fruit. The TV is literally from the 1950s. It is an illusion of perfection, much like the facade of a happy family as presented by the older couple. To see so much effort, thought, and care put into bringing those themes to life, without resorting to an exposition dump is notable.

Villains stumbles early on. However, due to the precise editing, excellent design work, and a cast that knock it out of the park at every turn, the film is still highly enjoyable.