“The Ruse” is written and directed by Stevan Mena (Brutal Massacre: A Comedy, Malevolence) and stars Madelyn Dundon (Getting Grace, Lucky Louie), Veronica Cartwright (The Birds, Alien), Michael Stegar (90210, The Chosen), and Drew Moerlein (Blue Bloods, NCIS: New Orleans). This film is about a caregiver who fears for her life after she is assigned to an elderly patient at a remote seaside home.

I will be honest, last May was surprisingly uneventful for film, at least for me. Yes, there are some big titles that I was looking forward to seeing like “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” and “Thunderbolts*,” but there are plenty of films from other recognizable IPs that I am not nearly as excited about like “Final Destination: Bloodlines,” “The Karate Kid: Legends,” or “Lilo & Stitch.” In the cases of these films, I am either behind on the franchise or I just do not care about seeing more of the property. This is where smaller films like “The Ruse” come in, which honestly, I went into blind. It is always refreshing to see a little film come out of nowhere and intrigue me. “Secret Mall Apartment” came out of nowhere for me earlier this year and blew my socks off. Hopefully “The Ruse” would be the next example of that.

Unfortunately, it is not.

The film is not all bad, but by the time it is over, I left feeling less than satisfied. Arguably my most consistent problem is that I found not a single moment of the film scary. This movie tends to present itself as something out of the horror genre. But when it comes to the scares, the film appears to be trying too hard during select moments to the point where said scares are not as compelling as they could be. Unsurprisingly, this film has its fair share of cheap jumpscares. I honestly found these more annoying than scary, and the more they happened, the angrier I got. Although if I had any compliment in this department, I will note that some of the buildup to the scares is not bad. But when it comes to the payoff, none of it sticks the landing.

The best part of this film, without a doubt, is Veronica Cartwright. If “Thelma” deals with old age with a positive spin, then “The Ruse” is most definitely the opposite. Cartwright plays an older, retired, house-ridden woman who had a notable career in music. One can argue that Cartwright’s role is borderline stereotypical, but I also think people would find it relatable. Chances are you have seen some variation of Cartwright’s character in real life. And if you have not yet, you probably will at some point. Cartwright gives a compelling performance that far outshines anybody else in the film. Her performance is so good that it makes everyone else look insignificant.

As for the other actors, I cannot say any of them are incompetent, but the script does not do them many favors. If the dialogue is not cookie cutter, it is either expositional or unmemorable. The same can be said for the direction. Not many of the actors in this film happen to be household names. I am sure whatever comes up for this cast next will likely be bigger and better than this.

To be completely honest, whenever Veronica Cartwright is not on screen, the film becomes ten times more boring and forgettable. Cartwright is the only character that truly interested me to the point where I wanted to know more about her. I enjoyed getting to know her backstory, her mannerisms stood out, and while the film itself is not scary, she at least added a pinch of eeriness at certain points that needed them. Everyone else in this film feels wooden or lacking in personality. I cannot name a single quote from this film off the top of my head, but I will say Cartwright is given a good line here and there that either gives us a little hint into her as a character or is just plain fun to hear coming out of her mouth.

There is a saying that a bad ending can ruin a good movie. In the case of “The Ruse,” I am not going to pretend the film was Shakespeare, but it had its moments. To be quite honest, I was, to my surprise, consistently engaged with almost everything that was going on. Not all of it was perfect, but I was always onboard. Then of course, the ending ruined everything. If anything, the final ten minutes of this movie had chunks of decent buildup to it, even if some of it was a little dull. But as I reflect on this film, it seems more concerned with building things and setting them up as opposed to satisfyingly paying them off.

This film’s climax honestly has a tone to it that feels like it belongs in a second act. Without giving much away, the end of this film was definitely trying to be clever, but I on the other hand was definitely trying not to be bored. The film already had a preposterous vibe that became increasingly noticeable before it got to the ending, but this crap was the icing on the cake. When I left the auditorium, I left feeling empty and unfulfilled. This movie did not have much to write home about to begin with, but this? Come on.

I said at the beginning of this review that I went into “The Ruse” blind, and I think that may have affected my experience just a bit. Throughout “The Ruse”, I mainly interpreted it as a horror flick. But if you watch the trailer, which I did while writing this review, it refers to the film as “a terrifying whodunnit.” Granted, that can fall into the line of horror, but even when the film dives into its mystery aspect, it never once engages me. If anything it comes with a hint of predictability and the supporting characters that find themselves involved in said mystery are not interesting enough to bring it to a level where I find myself engaged. I have seen decent horror movies and I have seen decent mysteries. “The Ruse” is neither of those things.

In the end, “The Ruse” is one of the most forgettable movies of the year. Other than Veronica Cartwright, there is no real standout in this film other than the ludicrously paced final ten minutes that left me wanting something better than what I got. It is not the most unforgivable abomination in cinematic history, but it is by no means something I can recommend. There are barely any things I enjoy in this film, and there are a few negatives that stand out quite a bit. I wish the people behind the film luck with their future projects. I just hope they are a step up from whatever this is. I am going to give “The Ruse” a 4/10.

“The Ruse” is neither available to watch at home or in theaters as of this review’s publication.

Thanks for reading this review! Look forward to my thoughts on films including “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning,” “The Accountant 2,” “Bring Her Back,” “Friendship,” and “Ballerina!” If you want to see my reviews for these films and more from Scene Before, follow the blog either with an email or WordPress account! Also, check out the official Facebook page! I want to know, did you see “The Ruse?” What did you think about it? Or, as stupid as this question sounds on paper, I will give this a shot… What is the most forgettable movie you have seen this year? For all I know, your answer might actually be inaccurate. Maybe you saw something so uninteresting that it fizzled out of your noggin. Whatever your answer is, let me know down below! Scene Before is your click to the flicks!