Mike Flanagan is a modern horror master who has already earned his way into the same class as Carpenter and Craven. His writing is great, his ideas are unique takes on old themes, and his direction is at times Hitchcockian. Paired here with a script by himself and wife/star Kate Siegel, the two have created a great example of the oft tired genre of home invasion, adding deafness into the mix. What could've become hacky by the end is turned around by our writer heroine solving her problems the way a writer would write themselves out of a corner. I can see why this film might lead to a chance to adapt the “unfilmable” Gerald's Game.
