Listen Carefully Review: Underwhelming Thriller

Listen Carefully is best when it attempts to tell a deeper story about personal growth, but its eerie lesson falls flat due to poor writing and direction.

While it attempts to be original in the horror-thriller genre, poor acting and lack of direction in the plot make this a difficult movie to invest in.

Ironically, Barton-Grimley is the one to both praise and blame for successes and failures in this film. Listen Carefully is practically a one man show with Barton-Grimley as writer, director, cinematographer, and lead actor. It’s somewhat impressive, but also makes it more clear where his strengths and weaknesses lie. As an actor, he portrays Andy well enough, but without any groundbreaking moments. Andy is an assistant bank manager whose accomplishments are rarely acknowledged, and who goes under the radar as a nervous and incompetent man. This allows him to hide some dark secrets, which are then exploited by the man blackmailing him through the baby monitor. Barton-Grimley delivers his lines well, and embodies Andy’s demeanor, despite a poor script.

The most dissatisfying aspect of this thriller flick is its direction – or lack thereof. It starts with a clever quote by T.S. Eliot, saying, “What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.” I was excited for a thoughtful rumination on storytelling and personal development; I expected this quote to be more integral to the plot than it was. Unfortunately, after a first act with heavy setup and expositional dialogue mixed with impotent tension, the second act muddles whatever direction Listen Carefully was headed in. Andy frantically follows the whims of his daughter’s kidnapper, but this portion of the story makes it seem like he’s just running in circles. The sum of this is a third act with hamfisted plot twists which are neither cryptic nor captivating.

There are still noteworthy elements which drew me in, namely Barton-Grimley’s use of horror as a moral lesson. In place of terrifying imagery and a consistent, disturbing theme is a seminal moment when Andy considers his life, his values, and his family. The idea that people should be good parents of integrity by stepping up to the occasion of raising a child is laudable, but even this moment in the film felt out of place. Perhaps this is because the acting and writing didn’t have me invested in Andy’s life, or perhaps it’s because the screenplay was pulling the story in so many directions that a deeply personal self-analysis was too random, untethered from anything I had just witnessed beforehand. But at least the message in the end is very clear.

Listen Carefully tries to be cryptic with various plot twists and reveals but ultimately doesn’t bring closure to a directionless story. Barton-Grimley’s effort is worth acknowledging; his cinematography makes up for inconsistent writing and unimpressive acting. The film is at its best when it attempts to tell a deeper story about personal growth, but its eerie lesson on how to be a good father falls flat in the face of a disjointed screenplay and script.

Listen Carefully will be available to watch globally on Digital HD from December 16, 2024.

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