The latest original film to hit Netflix, Windfall, has some stylistic callbacks to ’50s noir thrillers and a trio of talented leads, but is more focused on conversational thrills that won’t exactly hook every viewer.
Windfall initially makes an intriguing first impression by establishing its beautiful, secluded vacation home setting. Thanks to some stunning shots that showcase the beautiful landscape, director Charlie McDowell plays with and how isolated the location is. It’s what makes it the perfect spot for a thief to sneak on in and go to town—which is exactly what we see as a nameless man (Jason Segel) begins to skulk around and start looting. Throughout the man’s exploration, McDowell instills these excellent ’50s noir thriller vibes through both the stylized title sequence and the jazzy and mysterious music from Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans. Their music legitimately works perfectly in how eerie and suspenseful it can be, and it’s never over-utilized, so when it kicks in, you know things are about to get interesting.
Things especially get interesting when the man’s time at this getaway house is interrupted by the arrival of the house’s tech billionaire owner (Jesse Plemons) and his wife (Lily Collins) forcing them all into an elongated stalemate as the man holds them captive. Windfall’s central, growing conflict between the man and the rich couple slowly breaks open the characters and lets these performances do a lot of the leg work. Segel might initially seem out of place as a brutish thief, but that’s kind of the point. It’s clear from the start that the man is really bad at pretending he has a gun and that he’s a total novice at holding people captive. There’s a point where the billionaire says that he’s basically had to hold the man’s hand to help him rob him and it’s a pretty accurate description.
It’s actually pretty funny to see Segel’s character attempt to have a violent persona he struggles to back up and for Plemons and Collins’ characters to be genuinely sick of his ineptitude. Although tensions aren’t that high at the start because of how both parties simply want to part ways, things slowly become more strained as time goes on. Plemons brings out the billionaire’s more egotistical and persistent personality that tries to pry information out of the man about why he’s doing this. The billionaire and his wife’s seemingly perfect relationship starts to crumble as their past tensions start to play a role in the present. Even the thief becomes a little more frustrated as time goes on and it makes things absolutely boil between him and the billionaire.
Throughout Windfall, there’s a great mix of tension and light-hearted comedic moments that stem from this trio wanting to separate but being unable to and it does lead to some pretty strong thrills in the final act. More direct conflicts about withheld information and motivations make for some engaging back and forth between the characters and there are some shocking, even bloody conclusions that are well-built and satisfying. Collins’ character actually has some of the best moments in the film’s finale, but the film never gives away all of its answers, letting you stew on what some real motivations were as the credits roll.
Windfall can present some big thrills, but only if you can muster up the patience to sit through it. It generally offers more conservative thrills that involve the characters talking things out rather than anything action-y, so, it’s generally slow moving. Honestly, it’s not even until the final few moments of the film where anything major happens and while the performances from the main trio are great for their characters, the characters themselves aren’t the most exciting to watch. At times, they can be pretty unlikable and intolerable–especially Plemons billionaire character–and the film’s sluggish pace and tone zap any possible energy out of them. Even for its short runtime, Windfall can feel long as hell with how much it drags this endeavor out without much changing and while that might work in making the trio start to unravel with time, it doesn’t do much for making Windfall easy to connect to.
Windfall is that kind of slow thriller that viewers can find themselves begging for something to happen since not much does, but those with some patience and intrigue for its botched robbery story will find some satisfying conclusions.
