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Mary McCormack, Rory Cochrane, Tony Perez, Scotty Noyd Jr., Jon Huertas ... see more see more... , Max Kasch , David Richards , Nina Barry , Ed Martin , Jenny O'Hara , Will McCormack , Hector Luis Bustamante , Soledad St. Hilaire , Alejandra Flores , Nigel Gibbs , Emeka , Marisol Ramirez , Chris Rocha , Jessica Freitas , Kimberly Scott , Marty Grey , Brian Bloom , Daisy Tormé

A dirty bomb detonates in Los Angeles and a terrified husband decides to seal himself up in his suburban home and await the return of his working wife in first-time director Chris Gorak's tense and to... read more read more...pical drama. As the sun rises on another day in Los Angeles, Brad (Rory Cochrane) sends his wife, Lexi (Mary McCormack), off to work with a kiss and a smile. When the media begins reporting on the detonation of a bomb within the city limits and a potentially toxic cloud covers the L.A. basin in ash, Brad enlists the aid of nearby handyman Alvaro (Tony Perez) in making his home as airtight as possible while worriedly awaiting the return of his wife. With roads closed, telephone lines jammed, and reports of multiple explosions pouring in from the media, the panic and isolation of the tragedy begin to take their toll on the horrified community. Though announcements over public airwaves claim that authorities are doing their best to ensure the arrival of help to those in immediate danger, Brad and the rest of the citizens of L.A. soon discover that the explosions are only the beginning of their horrific ordeal. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Flixster Users

54% liked it

7,661 ratings

Critics

67% liked it

55 critics

R, 1 hr. 35 min.

Directed by: Chris Gorak

Release Date: August 24, 2007

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DVD Release Date: January 29, 2008

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Stats: 1,164 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (1,164)

  • LorenzoVonMatterhorn
    November 14, 2011
    LorenzoVonMatterhorn
    "Terror just hit home."

    After Lexi leaves home to visit Central LA, there's a terrorist attack involving chemical bombs. After the attack, her musician husband, Brad, fails to find her and reluctantly seals himself inside his house. He will have to deal with this decision... read more in the days to come.

    REVIEW

    Chris Gorak's directorial debut taps into the post-9/11 paranoia and fear of global terrorism and raises some very tough and emotionally devastating questions by creating nihilistic situations that create the premises for this brilliant, tense film about what started off as a normal day soon turned into an absolute nightmare for the commuters and residents of Los Angeles.

    Aspiring musician Brad (Rory Cochrane - "A Scanner Darkly") starts off his day preparing breakfast for his working wife Lexi (Mary McCormack). After he sees her off he sets about his usual routine around the house. But today everything is going to change. His music station is interrupted by the news bulletin that a series of explosions have shaken LA. He looks out his front door and sure enough smoke clouds are rising from the urban centre, and the streets are plagued with emergency services rushing in to help. Brad attempts to leave his suburban area and to rescue his wife - who he hasn't been able to contact. But the police won't let him leave the area. Brad, along with a neighbour, prepare to wait it out, but then comes the report that everyone has to seal their homes as the chemicals from the bombs are now airborne. They seal themselves in, but when Lexi arrives looking for help, Brad has to make a devastating decision - does he let her in and run the risk of contracting the infection, or does he leave her outside to the mercy of the army and scientists roaming the neighbourhood looking for the infected.

    "Right at Your Door" is a very intense movie with brilliant performances from Rory Cochrane and Mary McCormack. Many people have discredited the film saying that it becomes boring and monotonous during the last forty minutes or so but I found it to be very engrossing and nerve-wrecking all through and never found it to be boring. That being said, it's not something I'd watch again. Intense and very interesting, it's worth checking out at least once.
  • Godless
    July 21, 2010
    Godless
    A zombie without the zombies and dirty bombs in place of the zombies.
  • 3niR
    May 18, 2010
    3niR
    This gets boring from the middle. I expected it to be exciting.
  • puffchunk
    October 26, 2009
    puffchunk
    It felt suprisingly scary considering how realistic it felt, and how that kinda thing could totally happen. The guy gets a fun F-you at the end too.
  • SirPant
    September 29, 2009
    SirPant
    Wobbly camera does not equal realism! A film full of false promise. It?s a nice idea and it does not suffer from having a low budget, it just fails to deliver any real suspense. I saw the twist coming after 30mins!
  • Stinger839
    May 16, 2009
    Stinger839
    "Right at Your Door" is American dirty bomb version of the British atom bomb film "Threads", except it is not nearly as frighteningly powerful.

    I often wondered what happened to the kid in "Empire Records" who blew the register money in Atlantic City, well turns out he's in low... read more budget flicks and doing a damn good job at it. He manages to eek out that careful balance of caring for his wife while simultaneously secretly caring about his own life slightly more.

    The beginning is tense and fast paced, but is quite misleading as the middle begins to get slow until it almost stops and so slow indeed that you expect a death scene to come soon. Instead, another bit of thrill is injected, which steadily rises to the twist conclusion.

    The photography could have been a hell of a lot better, and the handheld technique didn't have to be so obvious. If the production could afford all that plastic and masking tape, it could have afforded some steadicam attachments. The deadly toxic ash and the quarantined neighborhood are nicely done though. The one weakness is that in the beginning when the main character is trying to reach his wife, the streets are quite bare and not littered with panic, which is the main tell that this is a low budget venture. Some may criticize the art direction on the primary set, but I think it is done incredibly well because it uses the same materials that a real person forced to improvise would use.

    The film tries to tug at many emotional heartstrings, and it succeeds in the first reel in conveying the panic and then the dilemma, but it never drives home the worry of contamination and death. Despite the lack of overall terror (especially when compared to a film like Threads), I like the ending and thus give this an additional half star.
  • kiriyamakazou
    February 21, 2009
    kiriyamakazou
    An excellent film that shoves you right in the screen along with the characters. On the radio a man hears about some explosions happening across LA. From there we follow the man. He is always at a distance from the immediate threat, but as more news comes in it becomes tense and ... read moreinvolving. The low budget really serves a simple but effective idea well. The film shows the panic, the irrationality and most of all the fear of such an event. It keeps science on the back burner so that it can focus on the moral issues it raises. What would you do in a situation like this? The characters are real and easily to relate to. Unfortunately is offers up a pretty judgmental and distracting twist to tie up the ending. Great idea, great acting and a great experience.
  • ceWEBrity
    March 13, 2008
    ceWEBrity
    Food for thought: Does Right at Your Door espouse conservative or liberal ideals? The first half of the film courts that popular Republican dogma - "we've gotta tighten national security/install a democracy/wage war to protect ourselves from another terrorist attack!" seems to be... read more the implied sentiment here. But once the men in the gas masks start showing up, the government's role in all this develops a dubious side.

    Perhaps I'm the only one who approached Right at Your Door from this angle...at least, after the fact. The movie is a tense and involving thriller that has two great lead performances on characters that probably weren't interesting enough to deserve them. They're not the cause of the movie's eventual unraveling, so much as the shitty twist ending, the order du jour for young film-makers be they Hollywoodian or otherwise. It is really a shame that Right at Your Door was not brought to a simpler close.

    I hope this brings Chris Gorak success in the future. He's a pretty damn decent writer and director, and has a great eye behind the camera. (This movie won Best Cinematography at Sundance, for good reason - toxin-covered Los Angeles never looked so beautiful.) As many directorial debuts are, this is a flawed work, but also highly watchable. Give it a shot.
  • Beefy
    January 31, 2008
    Beefy
    Well acted, tense and somewhat unsettling little movie about a dirty bomb explosions in L.A. Done remarkably well for a low budget film, but half a star off for the pointless twist ending.
  • drblood
    June 25, 2007
    drblood
    It's just another load of talky political nonsense with no action and nothing that you will care about one way or another.

View All Right at Your Door Reviews

Critic Reviews

Jonathan Rosenbaum
September 8, 2007
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

Nightmarish. Full Review

Neil Genzlinger
September 1, 2007
Neil Genzlinger, New York Times

The acting's pretty good, and the cinematography keeps things lively.

Pam Grady
August 24, 2007
Pam Grady, San Francisco Chronicle

[Stars] Cochrane and McCormack have zero chemistry and their characters are so different that they never compute as a couple. Full Review

Stephen Whitty
August 24, 2007
Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger

It's the Cold War redux, but with the Enemy now everywhere. Full Review

Kyle Smith
August 24, 2007
Kyle Smith, New York Post

As frightening as it intends to be, but not enjoyably so. Full Review

Jack Mathews
August 24, 2007
Jack Mathews, New York Daily News

Has an ironic and unpredictable ending. Full Review

Ty Burr
August 24, 2007
Ty Burr, Boston Globe

Maybe this is how the world ends in LA -- not with a bang but a 96-minute whimper. Full Review

Ann Hornaday
August 23, 2007
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post

Right at Your Door is a tick-tock of post-apocalyptic paranoia and moral ambiguity that would have made for some taut psychodrama on The Twilight Zone. Full Review

Jan Stuart
August 23, 2007
Jan Stuart, Newsday

If Rod Serling had had a shot at penning a post-9/11 scenario for The Twilight Zone, it might have come out something like this compact and creepy suspense thriller of apocalypse, Los Angeles-style. Full Review

James Berardinelli
August 23, 2007
James Berardinelli, ReelViews

While this is admittedly not lighthearted mainstream fare, the subject matter is interesting and is handled in a manner that offers a compelling and sometimes unsettling 95 minutes. Full Review

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