Before Fallout, Ella Purnell Starred In A Horror Movie Flop That Had A Ton Of Potential

The "Fallout" video game franchise has never been particularly scary, even though survival-based role-playing is the crux of these post-apocalyptic tales. That doesn't mean that these titles are completely devoid of horror, as some monster designs and worldbuilding elements can be creepy when you least expect it. Prime Video's "Fallout" T Vseries also embraces this ethos, creating an unpredictably ravaged wasteland from scratch — as expected, the more whimsical and darkly humorous parts of this world give way to spine-chilling secrets best left uncovered.

After Vault-dweller Lucy (Ella Purnell) is forced to venture out into this lawless world, she has no choice but to confront some of humanity's darkest impulses. Lucy quickly realizes that the sheltered reality internalized by Vault dwellers is a lie, as the world outside teems with vicious, bloodthirsty souls willing to kill and dismember everyone in their path for a quick fix or buck. Lucy's wide-eyed awe and repulsion grant "Fallout" a chunk of its moral heft, as her once-pristine worldview starts to erode when faced against the kill-or-be-killed ruthlessness of The Ghoul (Walton Goggins), who haunts her every step of the way.

Years before "Fallout," Purnell kickstarted her career with smaller roles, and 2011's "Intruders" is the only instance of an all-out horror flick that Purnell has featured in so far (the only other horror-adjacent story starring Purnell is the Showtime series, "Yellowjackets"). In this Juan Carlos Fresnadillo flick, Purnell plays preteen Mia, who becomes the target of a horrifying entity with complicated motivations. Although "Intruders" opens as an intriguing atmospheric horror-thriller brimming with potential, it quickly descends into the blandest genre offering, thanks to cheap jumpscares and a humdrum final reveal. That said, the core idea guiding the film is worth examining: It dissects the fabric of what nightmares are made of, and how these notions can often be contagious. 

Major spoilers for "Intruders" to follow.

"Intruders" opens with Juan (Izan Corchero) telling a creepy monster tale to his mother before bedtime, but the child ends up spooking himself. This attracts the attention of an entity lurking in the shadows, which seemingly wishes to only be loved, but this desire manifests in the most violent ways. As Juan's fears morph into something more real and terrifying, he is stalked by the monster who calls itself Hollowface. As the name suggests, Hollowface has no discernible features of his own (much like the Slender Man!), which is why he tears off and wears children's faces with the misguided notion of wanting to be noticed.

Years later, 12-year-old Mia (Purnell) finds a hand-written story hidden inside a tree trunk, which acts as the catalyst for the terrible events to come. After Mia expresses her visceral fear about Hollowface, her father, John (Clive Owen), comforts her, explaining that monsters cannot harm children who do not believe in them. John goes to extreme ends to dispel Mia's fears, building a gigantic boogeyman out of basic supplies and setting it on fire to banish his daughter's fears on a psychological level. Unfortunately, this burnt effigy transforms into a symbol of fear, turning up in the child's bedroom and traumatizing her beyond belief.

"Intruders" does everything right while setting up its basic premise, as there is genuine fear and suspense in the sequences where Hollowface first appears and starts terrorising children. But this compelling set-up is followed by an odd lull, where nothing of note happens save for the expected jumpscare or an establishing scene that doesn't pay off in the end. The story feels like a blanket stitched together from materials that do not mesh well, where its psychological undertones are dropped the moment things get interesting, and its more overt horror elements feel dull after a while.

Glimmers of a more nuanced film can be gleaned when one reads between the lines, culminating in the fear of growing up, which affects both parent and child. The world of adulthood is consistently presented as ominous, as it spills over into the more sheltered aspects of childhood (a theme that has been explored brilliantly by better films), exposing both Juan and Mia to horrors that are too grim for their fragile minds. But Fresnadillo doesn't flesh out these worthwhile ideas or probe deeper into the Hollowface mythos beyond a superficial exploration. 

"Intruders" might be a decent watch if you're looking for comfortably predictable horror, as it resolves all dilemmas reasonably enough to not insult your instinct to suspend disbelief.