I’ll begin with a confession: this time of year, I tend to get sucked into those made-for-television films. I’m not talking about the Hallmark love story variety. What I’m referring to are the steamy thrillers that seem to follow a string of overhyped ads, all featuring a common theme, such as “murderous mothers” or “dangerous dates.” Over the holidays I’ll often find myself zoned out and before I know it, I’ve sat through four or five of these films, surprised that I enjoyed a couple of them.

I’m telling you this because A Stalker in the House feels like one of these films. Unfortunately, if it did exist in a string of made-for-television thrillers, it wouldn’t be the standout selection.

Between the dialogue, storyline, and cinematography, there are a lot of cringe-worthy moments in this piece. The film follows the story of Jen (Veronika Issa), who’s looking for love on dating apps. In walks Mike (Jack Pearson), who is initially charming and handsome, but soon becomes overbearing and aggressive.

From the opening scene, viewers are dropped into the middle of heated action without any backstory or time for character development, and this was a disappointment to me. I suppose the opening scene serves as a type of flashback to Mike’s past, but it’s not enough lead-in to his interactions with Jen. In many stories, I often find myself empathizing on some level with the antagonist, but in this case, it wasn’t possible. I will say that Jack Pearson’s performance carried this film in a way. I loathed his character, and that’s because he made it believable. The rest of the acting left a lot to be desired, and it was disappointing to see Scout Taylor-Compton in only a few moments of this film.

There’s a lot of shouting and arguing throughout the film, and I found it overwhelming. Tension and suspense are important factors, but in this case, there was hardly a break from the tension. It was maintained at a high level for almost the entire film, and it had me on edge, but not in a good way.

Almost every action made by the protagonist was predictable, and there were a couple of moments meant to be serious where I laughed out loud at Jen’s absurd choices. She made it simple for Mike’s stalker actions to snowball. A bit more resistance or some unexpected actions on her part would’ve made for a more entertaining and suspenseful film.

There’s a message here about toxic relationships and healing from past trauma, but it’s lost in the mix of a predictable storyline lacking any strong, likable characters. If I’m being honest, the ending also fell flat, and that was disappointing, as a good ending can make up for some of what’s missing in earlier parts of the story.

With less of the actual stalking and more of a focus on the characters’ background and motivations, A Stalker in the House could’ve been a more effective film. Unfortunately, it just didn’t have the substance to make it memorable in a thought-provoking, haunting manner that many viewers are seeking.

2 out of 10