Come Play was a movie I had never heard of. Could be my lack of traditional TV so I’m not as inundated with ads as some people but the moment the opportunity came across my desk, I immediately checked out the trailer and knew that this was something that was right in my wheelhouse(especially during the Halloween season) and I politely requested access.

Oliver is a lonely young boy who is a bit different from others. He’s a non-verbal autistic and uses a communication application on his tablet/phone to communicate with teachers and family. One day while playing on his device, a strange ebook appears and it introduces us to Larry. A strange creature who also only wants to make friends and uses Oliver’s device as a portal to enter our world and Oliver’s parents seek to stop this creature.

Right out of the gate, I’m going to say that that the acting in this movie was fantastic. I thought the young actor who plays Oliver, Azhy Robertson was very good. He’s got a bright future ahead. I was only introduced to Gillian Jacobs in the Netflix series Love a few years ago and I quite liked her in that series but I though she was a real pleasure to watch in Come Play. Her anxiety and feelings of guilt over Oliver’s issues and inability to make friends is something all parents can relate to and I thought she was able to convey that really well.

The entire premise of Come Play is the perfect little setup in my opinion. All our kids are on these devices for any variety of things especially during these strange times with some of us choosing to keep our kids home doing remote learning. Not only is this a horror story but it’s one with a meaningful message that all us parents NEED to pay closer attention to who and what our kids are doing on these devices. They’re here to stay and we all need to be cognizant of these activities because you never know when the wrong connection is made with the wrong person who wants to do harm.

As horror movies go, Come Play was a real treat for me. I’m a huge fan of horror movies and have been pleasantly surprised by the quality of films that have come out in that genre in the last few years. This is without a doubt a movie that I’m going to watch again. I think I’m even going to add it to my annual Halloween rotation.

Come Play is haunting theaters on October 30, 2020