Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
A serial killer kidnaps a young boy after murdering his mother, then raises him to be his accomplice. After years in captivity, the boy must choose between escaping or following in his captor's bloody footprints.
Chained is a deliberately uncomfortable character study anchored by Vincent D'Onofrio's genuinely unsettling performance as the serial killer Bob — it's the film's clear standout element, commanding and layered in a role that could easily have been cartoonish. The plot is grimly focused, following the slow psychological degradation of the captive boy over years with some narrative discipline, though it loses momentum in places and the incest-revelation twist in the third act divides opinion more than it rewards. Jennifer Lynch's direction keeps the horror grounded and domestic rather than sensationalized, with competent but unremarkable cinematography that suits the grim palette. Novelty is moderate — the captor-as-surrogate-father dynamic is handled with more psychological nuance than most serial-killer films, but the premise and execution don't feel entirely singular. The ending's twist is provocative but feels somewhat grafted on, undermining the grounded realism built throughout.