After the death of her brother, Anna (Beth Riesgraf) finds herself alone and housebound on the day of his funeral, her claustrophobia keeping her trapped inside. The same day, three unfortunate criminals (played by Jack Kesy, Martin Starr and Joshua Mikel) break into her house thinking it empty. What follows is half home invasion thriller, half domestic horror as the houses’ occupant begins to turn the tables on her oppressors in strange and disturbing ways.

The film by Adam Schindler, which begins on a fairly obvious note definitely improves once the twists and turns begin. Intruders is put together extremely well. Eric Leach’s cinematography creates a world of light and shadow, hard lines and visual contrast. He also finds many ways to shoot the space that keep the audience guessing, disguising the layout of the house while also slowly revealing details that will become important later. The effect makes the viewer feel engaged in the environment while never completely comfortable in it either. The sound design and editing do a great job a building and releasing tension at the appropriate moments and the performances all round are solid.

The real star of the piece is the production design. James Wiley Fowler does a great job at realising the space and uses it to inform the story and character. The house Anna has been trapped in for years is large, old, and elegant, but not entirely welcoming. The whole building provokes the sensation of someone trying to feel at home all her life, but never achieving that comfort.

Unfortunately the screenplay drops the ball in some places with some fairly uninspired dialogue and questionable plot points. As Anna becomes more and more insidious and certain revelations come to light, the story becomes more interesting but in some places becomes sillier. Some characters seem to accept their circumstances a little too quickly so that the plot can move forward and it increasingly becomes hard to believe.

The film ultimately seems to be about forgiveness, about letting go of past trauma and moving on. With a protagonist that's revealed to be less than wholesome in many ways which makes her redemption raise more questions than it answers.