Sometimes a movie lives and dies with its actual title. Sure, there are sometimes films where the title works, but occasionally, the film gives the entire plot away with the title, which often proves frustrating for the audience. Sure, films like Kill Bill, Saving Private Ryan, or 12 Years a Slave give you the endgame, but the film’s journey is what makes the film work. In other films like Lone Survivor, Journey to the Center of the Earth, We Bought a Zoo, Sharknado, and countless others don’t bury the lead, which can cause frustration for those who want to remain spoiler-free. Director Stevan Mena’s (Malevolence) latest film, The Ruse, falls into the latter category as it pretty much gives away the whole movie.
Billing itself as a haunted house film, The Ruse follows Dale (Madelyn Dundon), an in-home caregiver who unfortunately made a mistake that caused her former patient to pass away and left her on the downside of a forced sabbatical. It seems that she paid her dues and is given the opportunity to take care of elderly patient Olivia (Veronica Cartwright) after her previous caretaker vanished in the middle of the night. What happened to the last caretaker? Is something supernatural going on? Or do we have a killer on the loose?
Olivia is a former music composer with a type A personality and dementia, so there are some growing steps as Dale and Olivia get to know each other. In addition to Oliva confusing Dale with her former caretaker, she also keeps referencing the ghost of her deceased husband coming to take her to the afterlife. A few poorly timed jump scares lead the audience to think that this house is haunted. In addition, Dale meets Olivia’s neighbor Tom (Michael Steger), who just gives off creepy vibes. Tom’s daughter Tracy (Kayleigh Ruller) also keeps referencing that the house is haunted, keeping the audience guessing as to what the hell is actually going on and where is this missing caretaker.
The Ruse navigates through a few twists and turns until it goes to its incredibly confusing and unfortunately cheap, and frustrating ending. As stated, the entire ploy of the film is a “ruse” and truly about a long con by various characters throughout the film. Even when the big reveal happens, there are two more reveals that further frustrate the audience as it attempts to do a The Usual Suspects Keyser Soze reveal to try and seem like the film is smarter than it really is. While The Ruse tries to hint as towards a supernatural element, it’s never really scary, and when the film concludes with what really happened, it’s eyeroll-inducing and derails whatever good faith the film has been working towards.
The only saving grace from The Ruse is Veronica Cartwright in her performance as Olivia. While spending most of the film either in a wheelchair or bedridden, she still delivers a solid performance and reminds the audience that she’s still the scream queen we remember from Alien and Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Madelyn Dundon also delivers a good performance as the tortured aide Madelyn. Like most final girls, she has a checkered past that informs her present and allows her to overcome the odds at the end of the film, it’s just unfortunate that the end of The Ruse is too convoluted to be satisfying.
The Ruse is now playing in select theaters.
