The Nest (2021) Review

A yard sale teddy bear is infested with more than the comfort they bring to children.

The Nest was directed by James Suttles and stars Dee Wallace (from Critters), Sarah Navratil (from The Field Guide To Evil), Kevin Patrick Murphy, Maple Suttles and Drez Ryan.

Don't let the bed bugs bite.

A family still dealing with problems of the past moves into a deceased relative's home to recover and get their bearings. They come across a yard sale where the daughter finds a teddy bear she wants to bring home. Unbeknownst to this family, the teddy bear is the host to a parasitic creature. Its only desire is to keep this family together, but not in any common, traditional way.

The Nest definitely brings separation anxiety to a new level. Although it takes longer than expected to get the backstory of the family, you get an idea early on that something bad happened to them recently. It is a mix of psychological thriller with creature feature and the combination proves to be a unique and surprising experience. The Nest has a varied mix of stereotypes and genre tropes that are very common in modern horror movies.

Some things seem a little far-fetched as well, like they threw a couple ideas together to fill in the gaps. For example, the mother starts having dreams and I feel like it was unnecessary and could’ve been cut from the story. Even so, there are several smart metaphors throughout the film I was able to pick up on pretty quickly and it made me more interested and invested. It wasn't formulated like most horror movies are today, so it was unpredictable yet there were some parts that can be found in other horror storylines.

Worth Watching?

Indeed. Despite the acting being a little sub-par and the beginning rather slow moving, I think it's worth watching to the end. I don't mind movies being slow, but the performances given by the parents in this film were slightly over the top which made it easy to get distracted from the movie. Getting past the first 45 minutes is crucial because I think that's when things start to get interesting. There is a lot to relate to in the story, if you have children or work with children. I’m helping raise my 8-year-old niece, and I found a few instances in the movie that made me think of things she has said or done. Sometimes the scariest things are the relatable things that could happen in real life.

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