INTERLOPERS (2024)
★½ — INTERLOPERS (2024)
The trailer was great. The opening was great. And then, slowly but surely, Interlopers ran out of road.
That's the frustrating thing about this one. There's a version of this film that had me genuinely excited in those early minutes. The graphic design work is striking, the story has enough of an interesting premise to hook you in, and you can see the bones of something that could have been a really solid low-budget genre piece. But bones aren't enough, and as the film wears on, the flesh just isn't there to hold it together.
Look, I'm not going to be cruel about the budget. What they've managed to put on screen for what was clearly very little money is, taken in isolation, fine. I get it. You work with what you've got. But here's the thing: fine for the budget isn't the same as good, and when I'm stacking this up against the wider zombie genre, Interlopers doesn't stack up. A low budget is context, not a free pass.
The most glaring symptom of the budget problem is also, perhaps, an odd creative choice: there are barely any zombies in this. For a zombie film, that's a bold call. It can work, mind you. Some of the best horror films in this space are lean on monsters and heavy on tension and character. But to pull that off you need your human players to carry the weight, and that's where Interlopers really starts to wobble. The actor playing the villain, who's clearly going for a Wesker-from-Resident-Evil kind of menacing corporate baddie, is, I'm sorry to say, laughably bad. Every scene he's in deflates whatever tension the film has been trying to build. It's the kind of performance that tips over from earnest into unintentional comedy, and not in a fun way.
It's a shame, because I do think the story and the graphic design deserve real credit. Those are the bits that suggest genuine talent and imagination behind the camera. Someone involved in this production clearly has a good eye and a good head for world-building. I just wish those strengths had been matched by stronger performances across the board and a tighter handle on pacing. Once the initial momentum from that strong intro fades, the film meanders, and no amount of slick graphic design can paper over a story that's losing energy with every passing scene.
I've seen low-budget horror make the most of its limitations before. I reviewed Castle Freak a while back, and whatever its faults, it committed fully to its nastiness and never forgot what kind of film it was trying to be. Interlopers feels uncertain of itself by the midpoint, like it's not quite sure whether it wants to be a slow-burn character piece or a more conventional genre thriller, and ends up doing neither particularly well.
One and a half stars. I wanted more. The trailer promised more. That opening delivered more. And then it just sort of... faded out.
Rating: ★½ | Year: 2024 | Watched: 2025-06-15
Where to watch
Watch in the UK
Stream: Amazon Prime Video · Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Rent: Amazon Video
Buy: Amazon Video
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi
Watch in the US
Stream: Amazon Prime Video · Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Rent: Amazon Video
Buy: Amazon Video
Physical: Amazon US
Affiliate disclosure: Movies With Macca may earn a small commission on purchases or subscriptions started via these links. It costs you nothing extra.
Related on Movies With Macca
More from United Kingdom: Lessons of Darkness (1992) · Shinjuku Boys (1995) · The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) · Blue (1993)
More from the 2020s: Mononoke the Movie: The Phantom in the Rain (2024) · Mononoke the Movie: Chapter II - The Ashes of Rage (2025) · The Long Walk (2025) · Americana (2023)
More horror: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) · Viy (1967) · Nightmare City (1980) · Angst (1983)
More science fiction: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) · Fantastic Planet (1973) · Nightmare City (1980) · The Long Walk (2025)
