Sean Parker
New parents will do anything to keep their babies safe from harm, but oh, the places our minds will go while imagining what is out there that could harm them. That’s the essence of Ryan Barton-Grimley’s new indie horror-thriller Listen Carefully, which sees one father’s nightmares become a reality when his daughter is kidnapped. The film then asks: What lengths would a father go to get his child back if the worst happened?
The multihyphenate Grimley stars in Listen Carefully as Andy McNeary, a new dad running on fumes. The stress at work (where he’s basically doing his boss’ job, too) is mixed with his fear that his wife may be losing interest in him, and whenever he can close his eyes, he has nightmares of a horde of baby-masked shadowy figures chasing him through dark alleyways. As a result, it’s left Andy to make a bold decision to slowly steal from the institution he works for in an Office Space-styled approach. Needing a breath of fresh air, Andy’s wife, Allie (Simone Barton-Grimley), goes out with her friends for a night, leaving Andy to look after their daughter while working off the clock. After leaving a window open and nodding off in front of the TV, his daughter’s cries over an owl-shaped baby monitor stir him to check on her, only to find she’s no longer lying in the crib where he left her.
Panicked and paranoid, Andy is about to push the final 1-button to call the authorities when a voice on the baby monitor begins to talk him out of it. The voice (Ari Schneider) makes Andy reconsider as he outlines the consequences of his actions at work. Whoever these kidnappers are, it’s clear they’ve been watching Andy for some time. Instead, the voice proposes an arrangement. Andy will withdraw cash from the ATMs around the city using the fraudulent debit cards he’s created until he has two hundred and fifty thousand dollars to pay the ransom, or the kidnappers will kill his daughter.
As Listen Carefully’s writer-director, Grimley speaks wonderfully to the mental state of millions of stressed-out, overworked, middle-class people just trying to obtain enough to get by. And, for the millions with children, he hits a stronger note cast as a father attempting to provide for his family in this climate of inflation and one-percent wealth stockpiling. Grimley adds to this with the unshakable exhaustion of a new parent, possibly leading him to make some half-brained decisions, like his scheme to rob the bank. At the same time, Andy feels guilty that he can’t wholly be there at home for his family as he focuses on securing their future.
While the film contains no sexuality, it still elicits the remaining elements of a neo-noir. Listen Carefully imagines a skeezy underbelly created by the real-life horror of the Lindbergh kidnapping and films like Ransom (1996) and Experiment in Terror, but, unlike those examples, has a strong mind not to get the police involved. In fact, some of the film’s tensest moments are created through Andy’s interactions with a specific officer, who continues to appear throughout Andy’s night.
However, the element of the film that truly caught me off guard in Listen Carefully was the way Grimley managed to attach exhaustion and sleep deprivation elements into the story cohesively. He blends nightmares and reality in a way that makes the story more ambiguous but retains the necessary pieces for it to make sense. It’s off-putting at first and not perfect, but it’s a mechanic who’s done better than others who’ve attempted it. It isn’t necessarily an Inception level mindf*ck either, and there are multiple ways to interpret the film after a pivotal scene twists the narrative into a psychological or ideological space through symbolism and surrealism. Where Lynch films his dreams, Grimley has forged a space for his waking nightmares.
While the film is entertaining, Listen Carefully struggles with being a little one-note. Grimley is a fine main protagonist, but the hyper-focused nature of the story gives little leeway for the character to expand beyond his duty to his wife and child. The one pit-stop in his night creates a taut exchange with a janitor (Richard Gayler), to which Andy’s given the chance to examine his illicit activities while observing another’s. Essentially, there are avenues here to explore, like the subtext in emotions of dark relief and extraordinary sadness, anything beyond the veil of baby monitor motivation.
Still, we’re dealing with a film in the indie space that remains a well-explored metaphor for new parents and what they must do to ensure their baby’s safety, even at their own expense. Grimley may have his hands full raising a toddler, but as far as presentations go, his film looks great and works as a very original and unique concept. I’m also in awe of his directorial acumen, which looks like a project created during Covid with limited interactions but still makes sense within the story.
Some moments also imagine dark versions of the errands parents are forced to do. A late-night, half-asleep car ride to stop the baby from crying and rock them back to sleep, or a trip to the office to pick something up. Some moments are stirring, surprising, and even a little P.T.-esque if you’re a video game fan. Still, Listen Carefully is worth a watch. Parents will undoubtedly resonate with Andy’s plight, while single people will reexamine whether or not they want children in the future.
Listen Carefully is now available to purchase on PVOD.
LISTEN CAREFULLY (2024) – official trailer
LISTEN CAREFULLY (2024) – the twisted new psychological horror feature film from award-winning Director/Writer/Actor… RYAN BARTON-GRIMLEY. Streaming everywhere worldwide – December 16th, 2024 SYNOPSIS: “When troubled assistant bank manager Andy McNeary’s baby daughter goes missing, he must follow the instructions of a mysterious voice on the other end of a baby monitor to save her before she disappears forever.”
