Coming to Blu-ray January 17th from Lionsgate is the 2016 thriller starring Aaron Paul, Come and Find Me. Written by Whedon…Zack Whedon, the script for Come and Find Me was featured on the 2012 Black List. A list of the most popular film scripts in Hollywood yet to be produced. The film was finally put into full production in 2015 with Zack Whedon stepping behind the camera as well in his directorial debut. Come and Find Me is the story David (Aaron Paul) who stumbles into the secret double life of his girlfriend Claire (Annabelle Wallis) after she abruptly goes missing without a reason or a trace.
The Movie: 2/5
Come and Find Me is a thriller that desperately wants to make you feel something and to attempt this the films feel as if it plays out as two separate movies intercut together. One telling the budding romance and continuous relationship of main characters Claire and David, the other the brooding mystery of David searching for answers in Claire’s disappearance. Come and Find Me jumps back and forth between the past and present eloquently enough but it all feels much to the detriment of the movies pace. With the start/stop approach to the storytelling, the film as a whole just never kicks into high gear the way good thrillers should.
Pacing issues aside, Come and Find Me feels very movie of the week which is never a good thing. Aaron Paul is fine in the role of the emotional lover who needs closure and answers, but the material just isn’t very interesting, the mystery never too intriguing, and the characters we meet along the way aren’t much more than boring exposition machines. I like a thriller with some grit, some punch, some nice violence with some fun twists and turns along the way. Sadly, Come and Find Me lacks these assets and instead comes off more like a TV movie you’d watch premiering on Lifetime Movie Network. Fortunately the film is competently made and not terrible to look at so if you are looking for a completely vanilla thriller for a family movie night, this one is safe pick.
While its hard to speak too much on the plot without spoiling parts of the film, I will say that the final 20 minutes of this turn into complete schlock with a completely insulting final few frames. The ending of this film was so laughable that I predicted it as a joke to the person I was watching it with earlier in the film and they still somehow managed to execute it in a way that made it worse. Ambiguity in your ending is fine but you need to earn it through the journey to that point and not smack your audience in the face once you get there. Come and Find Me gives you a mediocre journey to a hilariously maddening conclusion.
The “Making Of” featured on this Blu-ray releases has the director and producers commenting along the lines that at the end of the day they just wanted to make a movie that included a little bit of everything and lots of different emotions. While I’ll give them credit that they do hit all the beats they were looking for, the beats are just average and it’s just not a film or story I found to be very engaging on any level.
The Blu-ray: 3.5/5
Come and Find Me has received the standard Lionsgate treatment for this Blu-ray release, which is to say not much. As usual we get the packed in digital UV HD copy and the initial pressing comes with a sleek slipcover featuring the beaten and bruised mug of Aaron Paul. The picture quality on the disc looks great and is easily the most enjoyable aspect of the overall release. The film is not bad to look at and is shot quite well so it’s not a painful experience on a technical level. Audio wise this release is solid as well, with great volume levels throughout and minimal need for adjusting in the more action oriented parts of the film.
Sadly, do not expect much in the way of special features here. There is an included commentary track with the filmmakers which is always nice to have on a release. The included featurette, “Unravelling the Mysteries of Come and Find Me”, is a brief synopsis of how the film came together and what Zack Whedon and the producer wanted to accomplish with it. Running about 6 and a half minutes in length overall and featuring behind the scenes footage combined with interviews from cast and crew, it’s a puff piece featurette at best.
Video – 1080p High Definition in 16×9 Widescreen 2.28:1 Presentation
Audio – English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
Subtitles – Spanish, English SDH
1 Blu-ray + 1 Digital Copy
The Recommendation: Rental
Come and Find Me is a forgettable thriller that won’t be setting the world or the genre on fire. With the standard Lionsgate offering release wise and the lack of any real substance feature wise aside from the commentary track this is definitely one that isn’t begging to take a spot on the shelf. If you are looking for safe movie night that doesn’t push boundaries then Come and a Find Me is a safe grab at a Redbox or any digital rental service.
If you are interested in picking up a copy, you can do so on Amazon here.
Note: This Blu-ray was sent to us for review. This has not affected our judgement or editorial process in any way. Please contact us if you have any questions regarding this process.
