The Glass House (film): Tense and uncomfortable from start to finish

This is one of those films that I watched out of boredom as I scrolled through the homepage of my Netflix. I don't often do this but it was one of those nights where it was too early to try to go to bed so I mindlessly went through the recommendations that Netflix has for me based on my past choices.

There was a time in the past that I was on a horror / thriller kick, so I guess there were some remnants of those choices left in their algorithm trying to help me find a match.

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This is NOT a new film but managed to pass me by when it was released back in 2001. I'm guessing that it went by unnoticed by most people because they failed to make back the $30 million budget spend on making it. This is one short point I want to make: I don't see how this film could have possibly cost that much to make and I think someone is stealing.

The story is about brother and sister Ruby and Rhett, who lose their parents at a young age in a car accident. Both the kids were not in the car when the crash happened and the accident report shows that their father had above the legal amount of alcohol in his system when the deadly crash happened.

Since neither of the kids are minors, they are required to have foster parents and I don't remember how the choice was made but they end up living with close friends of the family that they are not related to them named Terry and Erin Glass. They also happen to live in a house that is made primarily of glass, and I found this correlations to be corny as hell.

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At first it appears as though Ruby and Rhett are going to be living in a life of magnificent opulence because the Glasses appear to be financially very well off. Terry is what appears to be a very successful business owner and Erin is a medical doctor held in high regard. However, upon arriving at the house they quickly realize that this opulence isn't exactly going to extend to them as they are forced to share a room, are removed from the private school that they had previously attended and are allowed very little in the way of freedom.

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Also, Mr. Glass (not to be confused with Sam Jackson's character from the Unbreakable series) makes some rather sexual advances towards 15 year old Ruby when he has been drinking. This is where the tension starts to kick in and the kids tend to start to spend a great deal of time in their rooms in order to avoid the "wealthy" couple.

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After the first 20 minutes or so of the film the audience is kept on edge with the constant mystery of what that Glass couple is actually all about and it is sort of hinted at very early on that the "wealthy" couple actually only offered to take on the foster kids because their parents left them a very sizeable inheritance.

In real-world terms, this is an unrealistic plot because this isn't how inheritance estates work: Your foster parents, including and especially if they are not related to you, are not entitled to pilfer your family's estate just because they provide you with food and housing. If you can just suspend this rather absurd notion (which is the entire premise of the film) the tension and great performances by everyone involved in the film including the child actors (which I normally do NOT like) make up for the rather implausible overall storyline.

I have been intentionally vague about the twists and turns in the film in an effort to avoid spoilers.

Should I watch it?

Despite the obvious problems with the overall plot I loved the tension and direction of this film enough to let that slide. You are on the edge of your seat for almost all of the film and this is a rarity for me since just like everyone else, I tend to pick up the old smartphone any time that a film starts to lull - but this didn't happen for me during this film and there are actually a few moments in the movie that actually surprised me. Of course the ending is exactly what you would think it would be but the method that they use to get here, including the suspense and cringe and fear of the caretakers is very well done in this production.

Let's just say that I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would and believe that it should have done better than it did financially. If you enjoy suspense and / or thrillers, I think this would be right up your alley.