The Recall (2017)

The Recall has a pulpy, late-night-sci-fi-horror energy that’s hard to resist: it takes the familiar “friends at a remote lake house” setup and steadily poisons it with eerie skyborne disturbances, invasive abduction terror, and the creeping sense that the world is bigger—and meaner—than anyone realizes. What really elevates it is Wesley Snipes, who brings a weathered, watchful gravitas as a mysterious survivalist figure, giving the film a sharp jolt of personality whenever he’s on screen. Director Mauro Borrelli keeps the vibe lean and anxious, favoring tension, sudden bursts of violence, and that unsettling UFO paranoia where the night itself feels compromised. It’s not for viewers looking for subtle, character-first horror, but if you’re on the fence and want a brisk, R-rated alien-invasion thriller with a satisfyingly nasty edge, this one delivers.

The Recall is clearly aiming for a lean, cabin-in-the-woods alien-abduction thriller with a grizzled mentor figure and escalating siege tension, and on paper that’s a perfectly fun B-movie pitch. In practice, it often looks and feels cheap, with clunky dialogue, awkward character choices, and a self-serious tone that doesn’t earn the big sci-fi mythology it tries to dump on you. The horror beats and abduction imagery are there, but the pacing and execution make the scares land more like noise than dread, and the story jumps to “epic” without doing the groundwork. If you’re only here for a quick, disposable alien-invasion flick and can tolerate rough visuals and shaky writing, Wesley Snipes’ presence and a few creature moments might keep you going; if you want polished sci-fi horror or characters you actually care about, this will test your patience.