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(SXSW) DRAG Review: Lizzy Caplan is Down for the Count in this Twisted Home-Invasion Thriller

By. Courtney Convex

 

When I first read the premise of DRAG, I expected a cartoonish slapstick comedy, but I am absolutely delighted to have been wrong. Premiering at South by Southwest, DRAG marks the feature debut of directors Raviv Ullman and Greg Yagolnitzer. While DRAG starts off as a quirky comedy of errors, it veers sharply into a bloody thriller. From the moment it makes that switch, the suspense never lets up, and the film is packed with surprises all the way up to the very last minutes.

 

DRAG stars Lucy DeVito and Lizzy Caplan, whose characters are credited as simply ‘Sister’ and ‘Fuckup’ respectively, as a pair of sisters attempting to rob a luxury home. Things go wrong when Lizzy Caplan’s Fuckup throws out her back, effectively paralyzing herself in the mansion’s upstairs bathtub. The pair are forced to find a way to literally drag Caplan’s body outside, with the decor of the home now recast as a maze of brutal challenges, eventually culminating in the reveal that the owner of this house, John Stamos, might not be all that he appears to be, and the sisters might not be the first girls to meet their end trapped inside.

 

Despite the limited setting, the high end house the characters are stuck in never feels claustrophobic, due to some judicious pacing and inventive cinematography. As the sisters scrape their way through, each new obstacle they face is introduced with gripping tension, and paid off in jaw-dropping spectacle. The film teaches you early on that despite the banality of the obstacles in the sisters' way, being pots, stairs and glasses of ice water, the stakes for failure are high. DRAG’s practical gore effects really sell the consequences of the situation, with one particularly gruesome moment getting an audible collective gasp from the audience at my screening.

 

The owner of the house, credited only as Man and played by John Stamos, is made an effective antagonist by just how terrifyingly casual he is. For our heroes, the simple act of opening a door becomes a treacherous, agonizing odyssey, while he dances through this labyrinth with ease. Stamos underlines this by maintaining a breezy, sitcom charm, which is comedically unflinching, even as we get to see the full extent of his hidden depravity.

 

Christine Ko has a very fun supporting role, credited as just Woman, the latest potential victim of John Stamos’ Man. Early in the film, she is drugged into near unconsciousness, and spends most of the rest of the runtime in a stupor. In this state, she gets to play a living obstacle to the sisters’ plan to escape, with the subject of whether or not they should try and save her from John Stamos hilariously a point of debate. It’s an interesting parallel to Lizzy Caplan’s Fuckup, who has also been rendered temporarily helpless at the mercy of someone else, but instead of having the dependable Lucy DeVito to fall back on, Christine Ko is in the hands of the cruel “Man”.

 

Lucy DeVito and Lizzy Caplan have an energetic, snippy chemistry. They make a convincing pair of siblings, perpetually bickering over an argument that likely started the moment they were born. Raviv Ullman and Greg Yagolnitzer’s script manages this conflict well, with it maintaining a persistent presence, but never allowed to become so miserable that it stops being fun. Caplan in particular is a standout, given that she has the unenviable job of making debilitating back pain entertaining to watch for 90 minutes, a task she succeeds at with flying colors. Her agonized facial expressions were some of the highlights of the film. Top that with her characterization as a dyed-in-the-wool scumbag, and the revelation that the impetus for the robbery was significantly pettier than the audience is initially led to believe, and she provides a steady stream of laughs. DeVito, on the other hand, doesn’t get to quite as big a slice of the comedy, for the most part she’s stuck playing the straight man to her irresponsible older sister, but every now and then she gets something funny to say.

 

DRAG is a deeply entertaining minimalist thriller, with shock and surprise baked into every moment. If you can, I would recommend going in with as little information as possible, and seeing it with a big crowd. The film’s many stunning moments will play better with a lack of foreknowledge. As the debut feature of directing duo Raviv Ullman and Greg Yagolnitzer, it is a smash hit, and I’m eagerly excited to see what project they get involved in next.

 

For more SXSW coverage, check out the review for HOKUM