They Look Like People

2015 Directed by Perry Blackshear

Love, Loyalty, and Living Nightmares.

Suspecting that people around him are turning into evil creatures, a troubled man questions whether to protect his only friend from an impending war, or from himself.

MacLeod Andrews Evan Dumouchel Margaret Ying Drake Mick Casale Elena Greenlee

Alternative Title

Они похожи на людей

mystery horror drama

79 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Max ★★★★★ 1

two bros chilling in the basement five feet apart cause theyre not gay
Review by Keith Garrett ★★★★½ 6

It's the middle of the night and Wyatt lies in bed awake, facing his girlfriend. He stares blankly at her. All we see is her outline lit by the moon, her face is cloaked in complete darkness. The shot, which already exudes an indefinable menace, is held just barely too long. What was merely a strange shot quickly becomes uncomfortable, and then genuinely unnerving. All in the span of one minute. The very first minute of the movie.
It's an incredibly simple but incredibly effective moment of tense unease and this film is littered with them. Wyatt has an undefined(?) mental illness, but it resembles schizophrenia. He receives phone calls in the middle of the night (or does he?) from…
Review by Sheena ★★★★★ 3

How often do you find a film where schizophrenia is displayed in the background of a horror film as a twitching person in a straight jacket meant to be ogled? They draw on the walls, throw feces, and make for spooky background stories of abandoned houses in every other film these days. We are always on the outside, as spectators. There is no horror in that display, just misunderstanding.
They Look Like People unsettled me far more than I expected it to. Perhaps it is because I was anticipating a typical thriller of some kind, but it was not. You are placed within the confines of a person who is mentally unstable and on the verge of a mental breakdown.…
Review by Hollie Horror ★★★ 2

Thankfully I have a friend looking out for me who suggested a double feature of They Look Like People and I Am Not a Serial Killer (watched in reverse order) and both movies worked really well together, so I'll pass along the pro-tip to all of you!
While a low budget effort, They Look Like People's greatest strength lies within MacLeod Andrews' performance, a naturalistic approach to the is he or isn't he genre that was quite haunting, as well as effective.
Review by C.J. ★★★★ 1

I'll need some time to think this one through a bit, but it's fantastic. Deeply unsettling, and it's so resonant in the way it explores loneliness, isolation and dealing with "growing up" amidst a really disturbing combination of Take Shelter and Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
This should be getting praised to high heaven in the same way The Babadook and It Follows were over the last 2 years. They Look Like People is way, way more subtle, emotional and impressive (based off the end credits it looked like they never had more than a 2 or 3 person crew) than both of those films in my eyes.
Review by bree1981 ★★★★ 1

Celluloid Screams 2015 Film # 3
This was by far the biggest surprise of the weekend, had skipped over the film at Frightfest and I hadn't heard anything about it either good or bad so I went in with pretty low expectations but it probably ended up being my favourite film of the weekend. The debut feature from writer/director Perry Blackshear is an assured film, a New York set character piece that straddles many genres, part paranoid thriller, part mental breakdown drama with plenty of humour, some rom-com staples and obviously a large dose of horror thrown into the mix.
MacLeod Andrews stars as Wyatt, a mental unstable man who visits his old college friend Christian (Evan Dumouchel) out of…
Review by Steph_h ★★½

We've seen this idea before.. is the person mentally ill or is there a real threat situation? One guy is convinced people are being infected by aliens and that a war is coming... This does some nice things with that idea and a few times is pretty unsettling, the end was really good too. Besides focusing on that theme theres a couple of things going on like a new romance, self improvement and another angle of mental wellness.. The acting, dialogue, effects and overall production were all on the weaker side in general. The story is focused on 2 guys and while they do give you some reasoning as to why the supposedly stable friend would act like he did, it really seemed a little strange at points. I did enjoy this though and it kept me interested till the end and I thought it had a good message ..
Review by Dawson Joyce ★★★★½

Terrifically acted, deeply unsettling, and even quite funny at times, They Look Like People is an assured and well-crafted horror gem that's rich with atmosphere, dread, and subtlety.
Review by Emily Housel ★★★★

the final scene was perfect. extremely intense and a little terrifying. this movie can be fun but also quite spooky.
Review by Mr. DuLac ★★★½

I trust you.
-Christian
Found this little gem when I went exploring deeper into the NetFlix horror section and basically ignored the "Suggestions for You". It's an indie film from first time writer/director Perry Blackshear... hell he shot it himself too.
You figure out early on that the entire film is a build up to the end, keeping you guessing just how this god damn thing is going to end. We meet Wyatt (MacLeod Andrews) and soon realize that he is either one of the only people on Earth that knows people are being taken over by evil forces or he's in dangerous need of some psychological help before it's too late.
It's well written, well acted and Blackshear does…
Review by Billy Langsworthy ★★★★★ 3

What a gem.
A remarkably smart, funny and scary movie about friendships, relationships and moving on from both.
One of the year's best.
Review by Anton Bitel 4

"...down in the basement the film's dual status as indie buddy movie and psychological horror converges into one. This climactic sequence, unbearably tense but also profoundly moving, takes friendship to its outer limits, while presenting the most alarming aspects of mental illness in the most sympathetic of lights."
More at Projected Figures

Recent reviews

Review by raven ★★★½

oh no, their friendship is so wholesome i-- 🥺
just bros being buddies :")
(anyways i kinda have the hots for the boss, too)
Review by irotinmyskin ½

I didn’t know Ben & Arthur had a sequel.
Review by balighy ★★★½

Christian is the greatest friend to ever live period
Review by Gonzalo Diurno ★★★½

Aún en su brevedad, le sobran minutos.
Review by danxluberto ★★★★

This is the type of movie that I am mad I didn’t think of myself.
Review by Kristina DeVenezia ★★★★

it's been a while since a horror movie has made me feel genuinely frightened. i had to watch several scenes through my fingers. so unnerving and so much better than i expected.
Review by hackedupforbbq ★★★★

Two bros overcome obstacles to become even better best friends.
Review by Skwis ★

People are better off watching something like Creep.
Review by Movie Whisperer ★★★ 3

A thinkers movie that is very clever in capturing tense scenes with not a lot going on. It's a slow burn that on the surface doesn't feel like much but in retrospect delivers by sticking in your mind's eye.
Full review on Mother of Movies at vanessasnonspoilers.com goes live 17/01/2021
Review by Beto Meza ★★★

I've watched this a couple of years ago and it was a claustrophobic experience, a kind of "minimal horror" film. It's more a psychological thriller than an actual horror film that uses mental health issues as a motif to tell paranoia and conspiracy theories.
An interesting watch.
Review by paaaiiigggeee ★★★★

this is one of those low key horror movies that grants constant paranoid dread the whole time, but in an especially intimate manner here. character work in particular was stellar—the cast was small and each character was subtly fleshed out in pretty much every scene. no screen time gone to waste. stellar finale. wildly underrated film from what i’ve seen!
Review by Lucas Arndt ★★½

Unsettling.