Parents' Guide to

You Should Have Left

By Jeffrey Anderson, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Familiar but solid, spooky haunted-house thriller.

Movie R 2020 93 minutes
You Should Have Left Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 15+

Based on 3 parent reviews

momof2girls74
momof2girls74 Adult
October 30, 2020
age 13+

Great thriller

My girls really loved this movie. They are 13 and 16 and I did not find anything was over the top for them to see.
ck1faith
ck1faith Parent of 9, 11 and 14-year-old
July 18, 2020
age 15+

boring awful

waste of time and money
See all 3 parent reviews

What's the Story?

In YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT, Theo Conroy (Kevin Bacon) is a wealthy man with a dark past. He's now married to actress Susanna (Amanda Seyfried), and they have a 6-year-old daughter, Ella (Avery Tiiu Essex). Looking to get away and spend some time together, they rent a huge house in the Welsh countryside. But before long, strange things start happening. The dimensions of the house don't make any sense, and mysterious doors suddenly appear, as well as scribbled warnings in Theo's journal. But when Theo finally decides to leave, it may be too late.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (3):
Kids say (1):

Though it uses a pretty basic, familiar haunted-house setup, this spooky horror/thriller benefits from crisp, unpretentious filmmaking, wasting little time on needless filler and getting right to it. Adapted (from a novella by Daniel Kehlmann) and directed by noted screenwriter David Koepp (Jurassic Park, Mission: Impossible, Spider-Man, etc.), You Should Have Left reunites the director with star Bacon; they worked together two decades earlier on Stir of Echoes. Working within the Blumhouse template, Koepp keeps the production small, using some very simple, effective tricks to generate genuine spine tingles.

The house itself is truly unsettling in the way that doors and odd angles tend to obscure certain images, keeping viewers off-balance. In a way, the house's sheer physical presence is even spookier than more typical tricks like shadows on the wall or reflections that move on their own. The human story works, too, and, even as simple as it is, the three main performers fill in the blanks on a troubled family dynamic. Bacon embodies jealousy and uncertainty, while Seyfried exemplifies carefree playfulness mixed with secrecy. Certainly You Should Have Left doesn't break any new ground, but it's a fine example of a solidly creepy chiller that should please horror hounds.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the violence in You Should Have Left. How did it make you feel? Is it shocking? Thrilling? How much is shown, and how much is suggested? What's the impact of media violence on kids?

  • Is the movie scary? What is the appeal of scary movies?

  • What is the family relationship like in the movie? What are the similarities and differences between this family and your own?

  • How is sex depicted? What values are imparted? Is age an issue?

Movie Details

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