Locked Movie Review: Did Bill Skarsgard Survive Anthony Hopkins’ Torture?

Bill Skarsgard and Anthony Hopkins’ duo is one sole reason for you to head to the cinemas right away and watch Locked. Did the movie have that Hannibal Lecter effect on Pennywise?

Here is our version of the Locked movie review with some major details of the filmmaking process and how the remake actually turned out. The post will help you decide whether to skip it or buy a ticket for it without any delay. 

Locked movie plot

In our previous article, we gave an overview of the film’s plot, but for revisiting purposes, the film is an American remake of the Argentinian movie 4×4 (2019). Even in 2022, a Brazilian movie, A Jaula, had the same storyline. 

In the beginning, we can see Eddie (played by Bill Skarsgard) as a recently divorced father who is begging a mechanic to allow him some time to pay the bills. The desperate Eddie then looks for the car that he wants to steal and that is where he is trapped by Williams’ (played by Anthony Hopkins) vehicle.  

Hopkins hops in to say the most dreadful line of the film, “You got in the wrong car”. Eddie is helpless as he gets locked in the lavish SUV. Williams makes use of its cutting-edge technology and ensures that Eddie could never escape. 

This time, it turns out Anthony Hopkins has switched roles with Pennywise and Count Orlok, making it a gripping battle of survival for the audience to stay glued to their seats.

 

 

 

 

 

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Director’s vision of the film

According to Collider, the director David Yarovesky was scared to direct this movie. When the script from Sam Raimi reached him, whom he is a huge fan himself, he didn’t know of anything like this before. David Yarovesky said, 

“It took me a minute to find it. I got to the page where he’s playing the music and hurting him, and I went ‘Okay, I’m definitely making this movie’.”

While talking to Movie Fone, the director admitted to watching 4×4 right after reading the script and he loved it. He explained that although he loved watching remakes, this needed to have a different view.

They brought their new filmmaker and needed to make it from a different angle. He needed to do an incredible job with different misery tactics up their sleeves, but with all “respect and admiration for the original team” for their hard work in crafting an original work like that.  

The part that inspired Yarovesky to do this film was coming up with his own version of the same story and seeing how different it could turn out from the original one. 

Details matter!

Yarovesky told Movie Fone that one-location filming had challenges. He himself does not have much knowledge about cars but he and his whole team did extensive research to make things believable. Watch here Yarovesky explaining how camerawork was done while shooting Locked:

For example, the multi-million cars are modified by the automobile companies for kings and elite people. Therefore, there are some special customizations, such as a window that has “layers and layers” so deep that an outside person cannot see and hear what’s inside, as seen in the trailer. 

Michael Dallatorre’s camerawork is commendable since one-location filming needs a thought process. Shooting in a small space from different angles needs elevation thinking, just like similar movies Phone Booth and Buried. 

Bill Skarsgard and Anthony Hopkins’ performance in Locked 

For most of the film, Anthony Hopkins is seen in the voice role only and he has done much more with it. It is only Hopkins who could have performed terrifyingly with his voice only. The exact fact is corroborated by Deadline when it said, 

“Hopkins can do more with a line like ‘You got in the wrong car, Eddie’ than any actor on Earth.”

Movie Fone’s interview with Yarovesky disclosed that the whole movie wasn’t filmed while Anthony Hopkins was on the call all the way. They did a recording beforehand to play while filming where Hopkins’ voice was heard. Sometimes, the director would do it himself when Hopkins’ wasn’t available and sometimes re-record it when he came back.

Williams enjoys being cruel to Eddie since he tells Eddie that he is at the end stages of cancer and his daughter became a victim of street criminals. The savagery that Hopkin shows through his mere voice is the true pinnacle of acting and that is exactly what Yarovesky and the film writers were having in their minds.  

Based on Deadline’s review, the “well-choreographed torture every few minutes” is a jigsaw puzzle in the view that aligns both performances well. Clearly, the movie is a distinction between the social classes where the wealthy car owner takes pleasure in tormenting the helpless lower-class man, whose fate is completely in the hands of the car owner.  

Furthermore, Bill Skarsgard spilled the beans to Entertainment Weekly that after Nosferatu, it was an intense switching one from one project to another. Being locked in a car alone was “a very solitary experience” since it was him and the camera only.

He felt it was awkward being alone like that as, first of all, he didn’t know where the cameras were, and secondly, Anthony’s dialogues was some “really intense stuff happening”.

Recently, Indie Wire reported that Bill Skarsgard liked taking challenges and that is why he took the role of Eddie in Locked. It was the “polar opposite” of what he played in Nosferatu. He felt “it was more fun that way”.

Anthony Hopkins himself revealed to Newsweek that the villain he played in Locked was “unlike any he’s played before”. Even Hannibal Lecter was years ago, and he hasn’t played many villainous roles since then.

(This article has been updated with the above-cited piece of information soon after Indie Wire’s article about Bill Skarsgard’s interview and Anthony Hopkins’ interview with Newsweek.)

Locked movie gross earnings at the box office

Collider reported that Locked earned $924,000 this weekend at the global box office after it debuted at 971 theatres across the country. The budget against which the earnings are disclosed is unknown. It does not specify whether the film was able to make some profits or not.

What do critics add to Locked movie review?

A film critic wrote a review in The New York Times saying that “violent fun and games aren’t quite inventive” and the movie with a single setting premise, lies upon the shoulders of the performers to keep the film going. 

Most of the critics’ reviews on Rotten Tomatoes are positive while some of them consider its ending a turn-off for the entire film. One of the best scenes is the ending of the film when the actual reason for anguish is revealed. They think that an abrupt ending has put the movie down but overall, performances from both the powerhouse actors have kept the excitement intact.

One such review indicated, 

“Locked is a diverting social thriller with enough blood and guts (and theatrics) to render it a ride worth taking.”

Fans reaction

Not many reviews are available online at the time of writing as the film has just been released but with less than 50 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. Several witty responses were seen in the general users’ review section. 

One of them remarks that Elon Musk should refrain from watching this movie as he would go “change his entire automotive business strategy” with a five-star rating [cackles].

Another fan wrote, 

“Enjoyed it. Interesting premise. Anthony Hopkins was wicked.”

Overall, it’s a decent watch. The film gives out a strong message on revenge, justice and the consequences of actions. Skarsgard in Locked experiences the nature of evil while the vengeful owner of a luxury SUV does not want to spare, taking full pleasure in his social status. 

Our rating: 6.5/10

Is Locked available for streaming?

Currently, Locked (rated R) is only available in theatres across the United States. Since the movie is distributed by The Avenue and is not a Netflix original, it is not available on the platform right now. 

Another The Avenue movie streamed on Netflix four months after it hit theatres, Land of Bad. Hence, we can expect Locked to come to Netflix one day. 

Genre: Horror, thriller

IMDb rating: 6.6

Rotten Tomatoes: 68 percent on Tomatometer (critics’ score) at the time of writing, no score on Popcornmeter as yet

Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Bill Skarsgard, Ashley Cartwright, Navis Charkhi, Sofia Tesema

Director: David Yarovesky

Producer: Sam Raimi

Writers: Mariano Cohn, Gaston Duprat, Michael Arlen Ross

Release date: March 21, 2025

Movie runtime: 1 hour 33 minutes 

Have you seen Locked yet? What do you think about it? Comment below.