My Review of Locked (2025)

 

Written by Michael Arlen Ross

Directed by David Yarovesky

William (to Eddie): "I set a trap, and you took the bait. Simple as that. You couldn't resist and now you're mine to do with as I please."

I gotta give Bill Skarsgard his due. His last few movies choices even if not successful (minus Nosferatu) have at least tried to push his range all the more as an actor. This would be another movie that would do that to, albeit with mixed results.

In this movie, Skarsgard took on the role of petty criminal Eddie Barrish. He's trying to be a better father for his daughter, Sarah (Ashley Cartwright) but something as simple as picking her up from school turned out to be a challenge for him.

Unable to get his van repaired, Eddie thought to steal a car. He just happened to pick that ended up locking him up inside. That's the premise of the movie: petty criminal getting trapped inside a car. It's a strong enough premise.

Of course the car had an owner and the owner was a rich doctor named William Larsen (Anthony Larsen) and he desperately wanted to impress upon a point to Eddie about morality. He might have looked down on Eddie's thieving but William himself wasn't above torture.

William's car was a torture machine and Eddie was the unfortunate recipient of said torture. The guy got zapped multiple times, starved out and even resorted to drinking his own urine before Eddie and William ended up in the car together.

There's a good back and forth between Bill Skarsgard and Anthony Hopkins throughout the film but it's really in the last few minutes where they actually share screentime together did things pick up. By the end of this movie, Eddie had certainly re-evaluated his life choices.

- The movie's an American remake of an Argentinian film called 4x4 by Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat.

- William had terminal cancer, which motivated his actions. Eddie also won money on a lottery ticket that solved his current financial problems.

- There's moments in this movie that definitely paid homage to Christine. 

- Chronology: The movie took place over a weekend with Eddie trapped in the car for most of it.

Locked was a decent if not spectacular thriller. There's a good back and forth between the leads, a frank enough discussion on morality. It's fine overall.

Rating: 6 out of 10