A divorcing couple is trapped in their home in Jas Sumer’s horror-drama STAY, as generic and dull as its title
The dissolution of a once-strong marriage is ripe for dramatic tension and tale renderings, and it is easy to take a few more steps up the emotional ladder in the escalation into horror. The added terror of something preying on already breaking psyches can be a compelling film; the normal plus a level of ELSE has led to Taking of Deborah Logan, Don’t Look Now, and others. Unfortunately, Stay is a dull affair, never fully committed to anything it tries to do.
Stay wants to be an emotional drama of the decaying marriage but also a supernatural thriller, and it never is fully committed to either, leaving a half-completed film. Stay presents a mishmash of ideas, scattershot in execution as each deals with the supernatural around them and their personal issues. Stay’s supernatural and emotional resonance is underbaked. There is little to hang onto for personality and character. Their troubles are the same as everyone else’s for most movie breakups; something bad happened, and both retreated into their shells. The film holds off on what the bad thing is, which makes awkward conversations as the writing works around (although it’s obvious); other reveals of personality and history seem like the characters learned them when the audience did, though a couple together as long as they were would know all the pertinent information before the story starts.
It doesn’t help that there is zero chemistry between the leads. Both Megalyn Echikunwoke as Dr. Kiar Guillory-Williams and Mo McRae as Milestone Williams-Guillory are leaden and generally fail to emote to us, let alone to one another. She’s drunk and vaguely angry; he’s stoic and chill. That’s about it. Two planks of wood confront their issues. It’s hard to root for the pair to make it through when it seems like they barely like one another from the start. Any shock, shift, or moment that would be a reaction or at least a “WTF?” from another is treated like a shrug; a common occurrence. In a way, it is a common occurrence, as nearly everything is cliché. An African spiritualism throughline could be interesting, but it devolves into muck.
It’s clear neither person is in danger, but instead will have to work through things, and it’s a movie that wants them together so that it becomes the crux and deflates the film. One can argue that’s the point, and we’re not meant to feel they might not live, but the tension comes in “will they work it out.” And we know where it is going to go.
The biggest issue stems from where it goes, tied into the lack of danger.. What is meant to be a reveal of the cause of their strife is, again, so obviously telegraphed. Don’t get me started on how it all plays out, I’d be hilarious in the final effect if I wasn’t annoyed at waiting for the movie to finish. It’s smaltzy, eye-rolling, and I let out a huge groan. The performance based on this reveal is terrible, as well; even with he situation around it.
I will admit, the look of the house works; there is a claustrophobia that bumps up as the film continues. Summers gets a lot out of a single location, keeping that fresh. The overall look and tone set up an atmosphere that doesn’t come through with the rest of the storytelling and performances.
Jas Summer’s Stay, exclusive to Hulu, is an undercooked single-location horror-drama that doesn’t commit to creating something interesting or compelling, from the bland plotting to the blank performances. Don’t stay on Stay as it slides past on the app.