Last Straw

For a directorial debut, Last Straw is an entertaining thriller with the mediocre yet pretty blonde Jessica Belkin in the lead role. Some viewers will find her nervous character irritating and will thus all the more enjoy her suffering at the hands of masked adolescents. The film is capable of being surprising and horror fans will enjoy the blood and the generally simple, satisfying premise. But the beginner’s mistakes, especially in the editing, are all too obvious. (2023-10-08)

How did this promising dinner invasion flick turn out? On IMDB the film is doing decently so far with a 6.6 rating, but for my part I was expecting a more intense and brutal ride. The film impresses with the beautiful main character (although her behaviour is not that likeable), a decent soundtrack and good craftsmanship. It also has a decent momentum and offers one solid and unexpected twist in the middle – plus points for that. The problem for me was the final showdown, which lacked a bigger pull and wasn't very effective or brutal, making it just a likeable and digestible one-off, good enough for a debut, but it could have been better. 6/10. (2024-09-13)

A fresh and dynamic variation on the "home invasion" thrillers, only in this case, instead of a home, we have a diner where the main character is working her night shift. Some of the creative choices and shortcuts make it clear that this is the debut of a filmmaker who hasn't yet been dialed in and could use some polishing, but it's still a very accomplished and suspenseful genre film that entertains every minute and has many surprises in store for the viewer. (2023-10-24)

Diner invasion with a great twist and a solid finale. Last Straw marks a strong debut for Alan Scott Neal, featuring an absolutely stellar soundtrack. However, the film stumbles a bit with its somewhat hole-ridden script. A few extra lines of dialogue between characters could have easily clarified certain decisions and made the story more cohesive. (2023-10-07)