2 out of 5

Directed by: James Roday

And this month’s Into the Dark holiday theme is… The Ides of March? I think we all figured there would be some stretches with this concept, but, unless I’m missing some thematic link, this is maybe stretching it a bit too far.

…Which I will link to this entry, Treehouse, being the first of these made-for-Hulu flicks to qualify for the sensation that the material was unnecessarily stretched to meet a runtime, a criticism that’s been leveled at almost every previous Into the Dark flick, and with which I generally haven’t agreed.  But with Treehouse, there’s a whole coda to the film that isn’t pointless, but also isn’t, in any way, required; it does the movie no harm, per se, but also no good.

That middling vibe extends over much of the movie, in which Jimmi Simpson’s reality-show-starring-chef Peter Rake is brought to account for some offenses in his past and present while visiting his childhood home and reconvening with his sister, Gwen (Amanda Walsh).  While the nature of these offenses is revealed in some detail as the film goes on, it’s clear from the outset that there’s something Peter is hoping to cover up due to ‘internet rumors’ and such, putting us in mind of the sexual scandals of the day.  To screenwriters James Roday’s (who also directed) & Todd Harthan’s credit, and to Simpson’s as well, this is a tricky character to write and act, but it’s effected rather perfectly: we see the reality show jerkiness from the outset, offset by more tender moments with Peter’s daughter; we see him get drunk and snipe offensively later on, but we’ve also seen him offer up some kindnesses, and note what seems to be legitimate care for his sister.  It’s an excellent capture of the #MeToo personalities: enigmatic men, apologizing after the fact but all too capable of repeating past behaviors.  I’ve laid it out rather bluntly, but Treehouse gives it to us in moments, so that it’s not difficult sidling up to Peter, but then also believing it when his character traits are further exposed.

There are some good visual concepts at play when events at said childhood home lead to excessive imbibing and possible hallucinations, but director Roday was either given the lowest budget yet for these things or is stuck in 90s TV mode: cheesy edits and really odd cuts make later attempted scares rather embarrassing; he otherwise uses a lot of unmotivated camera movements that attempt to dress up the scenes but, being unmotivated, add to the way the flick never really feels like it lands any given element too well.

Good acting from it’s lead and a valid setup are brought down by humdrum execution and plot filler.