Eddie Barrish is a jobless guy who tries to find ways to provide for his daughter Sarah. That often involves some options that are…not exactly legal. He tries searching for unlocked cars he can rob, but struggles to find any good valuables to sell at the pawn shop. One day, he finds that a luxury SUV is unlocked, and of course he thinks he’s just hit the jackpot. Well…not so much. Once inside, he finds that the entire vehicle has locked itself, trapping him inside. Kicking, screaming and literally trying to tear the car apart in order to find a way out, he realizes that the car has been made with the intent to keep you, well…locked. It’s also sound proof, and with one-way mirror windows so no one can see inside. Once Eddie is totally exhausted and out of options, he accepts an incoming call on the car’s screen. The caller, who is the owner of the car, is called William and explains that he’s sick and tired of experiencing break-ins, so he decided to build a trap. What follows is a claustrophobic journey with two men from very different viewpoints and perspectives, where one must fight for survival.
Locked is a thriller from 2025, directed by David Yarovesky (who also directed Brightburn from 2019). It stars Bill Skarsgård as Eddie, and Anthony Hopkins as William. The film is a remake of an Argentine action film from 2019, called 4×4.
We all know that regret can come in many forms, but none is more common than the regret that comes not from the actions themselves, but having to face the consequences of them. Eddie, while being an obvious scumbag and criminal, is someone who is also struggling in a world that’s not exactly rigged in his favor. Yet, it still doesn’t mean that he couldn’t have taken better choices, but he is undoubtedly in a more difficult situation to do so. In many ways, this movie is not just a simple survival thriller where someone is trapped in a confined environment, it also mixes a lot of social commentary. Throughout Eddie’s entrapment, he is forced to question his morals and choices. At the same time we have William, who we may understand the motivations of to some extent, but who is also suffering from lack of depth in his views. The movie could have expanded on these clash in views and challenged the viewer much more, but we do have some fairly valid arguments from both sides. William, for example, hasn’t just set up a car as a trap to lure in thieves so he can torture them and teach them a morality lesson just because he’s been robbed a couple times, there’s a backstory here where we can understand how he got to the tipping point and simply wanted revenge. The film, like its original, deals with themes of the struggles of the common people and the privilege of the wealthy. Compared to the original film 4×4, both characters here have certain motivations we can at least partially understand. In the original, the thief was a pretty big douche with hardly any redeeming qualities, though, maybe except for the “Jiminy Cricket“ thing. In this film, Eddie comes off as a much more likeable person, despite very flawed.
While Locked doesn’t go too far with its violence, there’s still some amusing ways that William is torturing Eddie. Whenever he tries something, he gets electrocuted. He’s starved, overheated, and gets blasted with a looped polka song for hours. Yay! There’s a certain fun dynamic between the two, and each try to challenge their world views and biases. Ultimately, Eddie is of course the only one who does a proper soul searching.
Locked is a pretty nice thriller that blends philosophy with horror elements and is fueled by strong performances from a great cast. A fun watch!
Director: David Yarovesky
Writer: Michael Arlen Ross
Country & year: USA/Canada, 2025
Actors: Bill Skarsgård, Anthony Hopkins, Ashley Cartwright, Michael Eklund, Navid Charkhi
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26671996/
