The murder mystery has been a long-lasting genre that has interested and intrigued audiences from the hard-boiled detective dramas to the slasher genre of the 90s and the 2000s. The Scream franchise, in particular, reignited the popularity of the murder mystery and spawned countless imitators like the well known I know What You Did Last Summer and lesser know Cherry Falls. There is something inherently fun about a mystery with real stakes and a cast with vulnerable and disposable characters. Don’t Look Back for a majority of its run time feels like a throwback to the slasher mystery but takes a sharp turn into far less interesting genres for the material.

In a world that feels cruel and unsympathetic, Caitlin has only recently gotten over the murder of her father at the hands of two robbers. While clearing her head during a run in the park she, and other bystanders, watch as a man is viciously beaten to death by a stranger. Guilt-ridden by her inability to act to save the man, she begins to hear the man at night and see him during the day. What could just be a mild hallucination becomes a harsh reality when she witnesses a shadowy figure kill one of her fellow bystanders.

The hook of a murder mystery is one of the most integral parts of the genre, something to catch the audience to keep them on board for all the twists and turns. Don’t Look Back sets the tone with news broadcasts about a string of violence that is going unaided by bystanders that are more content to stand and watch, right before the murder of Caitlin’s father and the man in the park. Creating dense futility and guilt that hangs over the head of our main which only intensifies the story as it enters the murder mystery revelation.

Where Don’t Look Back begins to lose that intensity is when the possibility arises that these killings may be supernatural in nature. It can be said there are many wonderful supernatural killer movies out there, but it ends up feeling clunky and cliche in the world that the film had previously built. Moreso, it takes away from the murder mystery element and instead replaces it with the tone of a supernatural horror that has been overplayed to death in the last decade. Combined with an absolutely tacked on last five minutes, to give the film an 80 minute run time, it loses most of if not all of the momentum that the first half spent creating.

Whether you are someone that enjoys the slasher mysteries of the 2000s or someone who likes revenge stories from beyond the grave, it would be hard to decide if Don’t Look Back is a film for you. Being stuck in the middle between two not dissimilar but not similar enough genres puts the film in a tight spot. There is a good film to be found for sure within the conflict, you just have be the right audience member to find it.

5 out of 10