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The housing market is a hot mess. People are forming throuples and enduring nightmare roommates to afford dingy apartments, let alone cramped houses built a century ago. Against this backdrop, the new Portland-set and -shot thriller Cellar Door—released to streaming platforms on Friday, Nov. 1—poses a quintessentially American question: What horrors would you overlook to get what you want?
John and Sera (Scott Speedman, Jordana Brewster), a straight couple, house hunt after plenty of establishing drone shots of the Burnside Bridge and other local landmarks. They’re not leaving downtown chased off by Fox News’ biggest fears but to start over after a painful miscarriage. Their real estate agent introduces them to Emmett (Laurence Fishburne), who offers them a veritable Pandora’s Box: a picturesque manor, free and clear, on condition that they never open…the cellar door.
Alyssa (Addison Timlin), John’s co-worker and ex-girlfriend who channels Vanderpump Rules mistress Rachel “Raquel” Leviss, attends the housewarming party after him and Sera fulfill a required sleepover with Emmett. Though he encouraged Alyssa to move on, John begins to spiral after Sera’s fixation on starting a family in the house grows stronger than his. He’s an architect and she’s a mathematician, so they must not be worried about taxes, utilities or upkeep.
The couple meets another of Emmett’s beneficiaries, who warns them his family fell apart after accepting Emmett’s offer. They also learn that Emmett’s wife and daughter vanished under suspicious circumstances, leading the couple to question what could be in their cellar. After Sera finally gets pregnant, Alyssa goes missing. John, whose curiosity about the cellar is getting the best of him, becomes the prime suspect after Alyssa’s HR complaint got him suspended from work.
From here, writers Sam Scott and Lori Evans build what at first looks like a tract home of a screenplay around the historic Frank J. Cobb House, designed by Benson Bubblers architect Albert E. Doyle, but its grounds and interior vastness wind up feeling like characters in their own right. Wood creaks extra loud, adding not only a sense of isolation, but a reminder that John and Sera now have to fill a seven-bedroom house. Netflix’s recent body swap horror film It’s What’s Inside is also set at Cobb Mansion, but before fans try house hunting themselves, Tim Williams—executive director of Oregon Film, the state’s liaison agency to the movie industry—says it’s a private residence. Respect the owner’s privacy and really don’t go near the cellar door.
There might only have been enough room in the budget to get Fishburne on set for a day, but if so, director Vaughn Stein makes the most of his time. Everyone else decorates their cookie-cutter characters to the best of their ability. For instance, Timlin (The Town That Dreaded Sunset) injects some much-needed drama into an otherwise sleepy plot, but doesn’t have much to work with besides the “other woman” archetype. Speedman (Underworld) is believable as a selfish, work-obsessed husband, while for the most part Brewster (The Fast and the Furious series) played it too safe and dry—until the final act.
Anyone who makes it to the last 30 minutes is rewarded as they’re blind sided by a twist ending that could make viewers toss their phones in stunned disbelief. Cellar Door might not have passed final inspection without its ending. It winds up being more than a made-for-TV movie about straight people problems. Even if you think you’d give up renting in a heartbeat to keep this house of secrets, Cellar Door makes you question what you think you know.
SEE IT: Cellar Door is rated R. It screens on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Fandango, Google Play, and YouTube.