Don't Look Back (2020) Review

If you loved the "destiny eventually comes for us all" approach of the Final Destination franchise, then the chances are pretty good you'll like Don't Look Back, and with good reason. (Jeffrey Reddick, the illustrious writer of the now-iconic Destination films, also wrote and directed Don't Look Back.) The tagline "karma comes for us all" promises a similar ride, but does it deliver? And is this horror film covering ground that's perhaps too familiar to make it worth seeing in the first place?

The storyline of Don't Look Back opens on a familiar note, especially for those of us who've made it through 2020 in one piece. A group of young people walking in New York's own Central Park happens to witness an assault that results in a man's death. However, not a single member of the group tries to intervene or otherwise help the victim. Some look away or walk away, while others simply look on or record the assault on their cell phones.

One of the bystanders happens to be Caitlin Kramer (Kourtney Bell), a young mom who lost her father in a terrifying home invasion some months before. Coaxed out of the house for a jog by her well-meaning boyfriend Josh (Skylar Hart), Caitlin is horrified to find herself a witness to such a crime. Things only worsen when the victim's brother decides to shame the "bad Samaritans" by reading their names aloud on TV.

Not long after that, members of the group start mysteriously dropping like flies, each dying his or her very own grisly death. Caitlin wonders whether some supernatural karmic force is tracking down each member of the group and works to solve the mystery before whatever it is comes for her. Or is the culprit a person bent on making the bad Samaritans pay for their apathy?

If you liked the general idea behind the Final Destination movies and are expecting Don't Look Back to take a page out of the same book, you won't be disappointed in that. Reddick's definitely working from material he's extremely familiar with, but that may be part of the film's downfall. Although all the same elements that made the Destination films great are there, they often feel stale and hollow. The kills in Don't Look Back aren't anywhere near as gory, startling, or creative as Destination's now-famous deaths.

The characters are also wooden and forgettable, for the most part. The viewer knows they're just there to die, and Reddick seems to get that. Or at least that's one explanation for the utter lack of character development in Don't Look Back. Kourtney Bell turns in an excellent performance as Caitlin, as does Will Stout as Lucas Helton, the suffering brother of the assault victim. However, the vast majority of the characters don't make you feel much or care when they do get around to dying.

When the audience finally receives an answer to the uncanny string of misfortunes plaguing the group of bystanders, it's underwhelming. There's also an epilogue that some might view as groan-worthy, so proceed with caution. All in all, Don't Look Back is mostly worth watching to see how it stacks up to the Final Destination films you're more familiar with. It has its moments, and it's watchable, but only if you don't go into it expecting too much from the experience.

All in all, Reddick fails to bring the noise with Don't Look Back, so don't hold your breath waiting for it to go down in horror history as a new classic. If that's what you're looking for, you may be better off merely revisiting the Final Destination franchise and reminiscing about the days when Reddick's work still had some pop.

Style: Psychological, Supernatural, Cursed, Revenge, Jump Scares, New Release