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Significant Other should really begin with the popular nursery rhyme which begins… # If you go down to the woods today, you’re sure of a big surprise #
While young couple Ruth (Maika Monroe – The Guest) and Harry (Jake Lacy – Being The Ricardos) are out camping and hiking, first eating lunch from a local shop, a kid comes along asking if he can clear away their finished plates… even though they’ve just started. With a look of panic, he asks, “Did you see the Red Star come down?” before going back inside. Huh?
Meanwhile, Harry tells her it’s the fourth time he’s done the trail, and there’s nothing scary about it… cue things that go bump in the night, jump scares, a marriage proposal and decapitated animals. Ewwww….
On the plus side, Significant Other has some great drone-taken landscape shots, plus a scene with Brian De Palma-style visuals – with one character in the foreground and the other in the background, but both in focus.
Also, at one point, it takes a direction I wasn’t expecting, but while the idea wasn’t one I hadn’t seen before, it was still interesting enough to keep me interested. Then again, it’s only an 84-minute film, so to switch off during that, you’d have to have the attention span of a gnat… or be really eager to catch up on Beavis and Butthead.
On the downside, I would say that certain sections remind me of a previous film I’ve seen, but then I think Significant Other steals ideas from about four films, none of which I’ll list here so as to avoid spoilers, but all of which are significantly more significant!
Still, at least it’s short.
Plus, like a lot of films these days, it teases a potential sequel, but not one I’ll be rushing to see.
Thanks to our friends at Paramount+ for the screener prior to release.
Significant Other is on Paramount+ from today, but is not available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 84 minutes
Release date: October 7th 2022
Studio: Paramount+
Format: 2.00:1
Rating: 3/10
Directors: Dan Berk, Robert Olsen
Producer: Dan Kagan
Screenplay: Dan Berk, Robert Olsen
Music: Oliver Coates
Cast:
Ruth: Maika Monroe
Harry: Jake Lacy
Ray: Matthew Yang King
Vivian: Dana Green
Dolores: Teal Sherer
Jimmy: Loudon McCleery
Therapist Receptionist: Marcella Lentz-Pope
Radio Announcer: Andrew Morgado
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.