YOU WOULD HAVE THOUGHT I WAS being handed the keys to the fortress. I remember I was in the early years of elementary school when one summer I was handed my own set of house keys. Two keys, one silver colored the other brass, were dangling from a dark silver ring. I was told the silver colored ring was to unlock the downstairs door that opened into the building’s lobby; the brass colored ring was to be used to open the front door to our apartment. Up until this time, I had no need for a set of keys because there was always someone home to let me in. You see, in front of the lobby door there was this rectangular metal wall panel that had black buttons going down in a row on the left side. Each button had a black and white label next to it that had the name of the family who lived in that apartment. When someone pressed our button, a bell would sound in our home. I usually ran to be the first in the hallway, to ring the answer button on a small metal box that was attached to the wall. The button would unlock the lobby door for the guest, waiting to get inside downstairs. I loved opening our front door and going over to the bannister that wound down flights of stairs in a sort of square pattern. Barely tall enough to lean over the bannister, I could see all the way down to the ground level’s tiled floor. All I would see usually of the visitor was a gripped hand on the polished wood bannister making its way up to our floor.      THE REASON I GOT MY OWN set of keys that summer was because when the new school year was starting in the autumn, no one was going to be home to let me in for lunch. With both parents now working outside of the home, I would have to let myself in, go to the refrigerator where there was a plate inside that had either a bologna sandwich on rye bread or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on white bread. I would usually add some potato or corn chips to the plate and pour myself a glass of grape juice. I would sit with a snack tray in the living room, so I could watch television while I was eating. For dessert, I would often take a couple of cookies from the pantry or an apple from the refrigerator. When done, I would rinse the plate and glass in the kitchen sink, wash my hands, finish whatever show I was watching on TV, then walk back to school before the one pm bell sounded for the start of afternoon classes. I felt like such a grownup, unlocking and locking our front door, placing my key ring in my left front pants’ pocket each time. However, that was nothing compared to what the young boy in this suspenseful horror film had to do.      APPROXIMATELY TWO IN THE MORNING ALL but one student of the same class leave their homes, never to return. The parents and townsfolk have a multitude of questions for the teacher and principal. With Julia Garner (The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Ozark-TV) as Justine, Josh Brolin (Brothers, Dune franchise) as Archer, Alden Ehrenreich (Beautiful Creatures, Solo: A Star Wars Story) as Paul, Cary Christopher (Intuitions, Days of Our Lives-TV) as Alex, and Benedict Wong (The Martian, Doctor Strange franchise) as Marcus; this really is not your typical horror film. There were only three or four scenes that had blood and violence; the rest of the film was filled with excellent story telling and thrilling suspense. I thought the cast was outstanding and was stunned to find out who was the actor playing one of the characters when I saw their name in the ending credits. The running time flew by since I was quickly absorbed by the story being told in this complete well done picture. The director absolutely has a knack for telling and creating this type of story, and I cannot wait to see what else we are in store for with his creativity. 

3 1/2 stars