I Came By Review: Anvari's Thoughtful Thriller Is Surprisingly Lacking In Bite

Thrillers can be tricky to write about in a spoiler-free way. Imagine having to offer anything insightful about Gone Girl with the movie's second half essentially inaccessible, but I Came By seems especially so. Not because the story is especially twisty, but because the surprises it does hold are so crucial to its overall effect. It benefits from the sense of writer-director Babak Anvari's authorial hand making a few strong, thoughtful decisions about both narrative and style that aren't exactly typical of the genre, which end up providing the most food for thought. Viewers with the background to properly admire them will likely get the most out of watching it. Those who engage with it on the level of the whole, however, might find it less than the sum of its parts — gripping enough to leave them positive on the experience, but not entirely sold on the validity of this formal experiment.