There's nothing quite like a honeymoon to make or break a couple. That first period of unfiltered one-on-one time following a marriage is the proper test of relational mettle, and Do Not Disturb is here to completely flip your expectations of a honeymoon on its head. John Ainslie's latest film is a mind-bending allegory for conflict between couples, but doesn't remain nearly as laser-focused as you'd like.
Do Not Disturb stars Kimberley Lafierre as Chloe and Rogan Christopher as Jack, two newlyweds gallivanting on their honeymoon to sunny Miami. It's clear from the opening scene that things aren't entirely rosy between them, with discussion of previous infidelities clashing with Chloe's desire to settle down and have kids, while Jack wants to remain young while he can. It's a relationship that instantly appears severed beyond repair, but nonetheless they try to make the most of their getaway.
It starts off badly and gets worse, as they stumble across a couple of swingers unbeknownst to Chloe, who is horrified at Jack's lust for other women. Both Lafierre and Christopher do subtle disdain really well, with smouldering glances and sharp digs about how different their lives could have been.
But things all take a turn when a drug-addled sunbather (played by Rupinder Nagra) bestows upon them a bag of peyote, exclaiming how they ruined his life. In a moment of fitful glee and reckless abandon, both Chloe and Jack gorge on the plants – which is where things start getting really strange.
At around that halfway mark, writer-director John Ainslie takes Do Not Disturb in a completely different direction. What was previously a gritty marital thriller in the same vein as Marriage Story, switches entirely to a bloody pseudo-horror. Ainslie very clearly relishes this sudden jolt in tone, with everything after the couple first take the peyote feeling like a fever dream. From characters randomly disappearing and reappearing elsewhere to outfits changing all of a sudden with no explanation, we're meant to feel just as bamboozled as the leading newlyweds.
Things get very bloody very fast, as it turns out the peyote doesn't just give Chloe and Jack hallucinations, but also an unquenchable hunger for human flesh. Yes, it comes completely out of nowhere, and is certainly something Ainslie doesn't forecast earlier in the screenplay. That makes the twist all the more shocking, as their hotel room becomes a quarantine rather than a newlywed sanctuary. Rather than arguing about having kids or not, their biggest fears soon become whether they've accidentally eaten people in a drug-addled daze and can no longer remember.
While the concept is no doubt a novel one, Do Not Disturb doesn't quite know how to harness it in the most inventive way. Rather than switching up to a high-octane gorefest like From Dusk Till Dawn, the pace actually drops quite considerably during the second act. We plod along, seeing Chloe and Jack react to their newfound cannibalism and ponder what to do, rather than a more outward-looking exploration of exactly how this changes their lives. In some ways, this works in the film's favour: you'll never feel quite as claustrophobic in a hotel room as you do here. For the most part though, things start to lack that narrative punch.
It's mostly noticeable through the various narrative stop-starts peppered throughout the third act. There are several instances where it feels like Do Not Disturb could end there and then, but Ainslie then picks the plot back up again despite having seemingly just tied things up for good. It's never a glowing sign when you aren't sure what story a film has left to tell, but it often feels like Do Not Disturb is playing for time rather than having anything meaningful left to explore.
That's what ultimately makes Do Not Disturb a promising but undeniably frustrating watch. The first act establishes a relationship held together by a thread, ready to erupt at any given moment. The second act throws a wildcard in by giving these characters a completely wild lust for flesh to contend with, but it always feels like it doesn't know what to do after it establishes that gimmick. It doesn't quite become a metaphor for their relationship, and it doesn't worry too much about exploring how it impacts them as people. Instead, we seem to just follow them about for a while longer, watching vignette after vignette of their zombified lives without any momentum or purpose.
It's unfortunate, because Do Not Disturb kicks off as a very promising study of relationships where there's so much water under the bridge that the banks are about to burst. Adding this fantastical wildcard could easily have amped up the flair and enhanced the story, but instead it causes a distinct lack of focus. Do Not Disturb is worth a watch for the boldness of its twist nonetheless – just don't expect to feel completely satisfied afterwards.
Do Not Disturb aired at Frightfest on August 19th
