Some movies come along at exactly the right moment. Others can only really affect you when you happen to be at a certain point in your life. Come With Me is perhaps an even stronger example of the latter. It is a crime thriller and character study about an ordinary man who, following a traumatic event, problems at work, and the loss of a close friend, slowly begins to spiral downward. Influenced by the rhetoric of a radio host, he starts to see the world around him in a very different way.
Whether Come With Me clicks with you will therefore depend quite heavily on the individual. It depends on where you are in life at the time you watch it, but also, to some extent, on your personal and political views. The movie clearly wants to say something about frustration, discontent, polarization, and the way people can be influenced. That makes it an interesting film, but not necessarily a successful one.
Come With Me and Its Clear Taxi Driver Influences
From the very beginning, it is reasonably clear that Come With Me is going to follow the Taxi Driver route to some extent. We are introduced to a man who becomes increasingly detached from society while simultaneously finding more and more confirmation for his own frustrations and worldview. The film deliberately chooses to show a gradual descent toward something much darker.
In terms of its buildup, the movie succeeds reasonably well at times. Theo Rossi is given room to portray Simon as someone who does not immediately come across as a dangerous person. That makes his subsequent development interesting. The film tries to show how a combination of loneliness, grief, anger, and outside influence can slowly push someone in a very different direction.
The problem is that Come With Me does not always have the confidence to let that development happen at its own pace.
The Story of Come With Me Sometimes Feels Too Forced
At several points, the story feels rather unsubtle. While the first half patiently builds Simon's frustrations, things become increasingly obvious later on, as if certain developments have to happen simply because the story needs them to.
As a result, the movie can also feel rushed.
The film wants to tackle several social and political themes, but it does not always have the time or subtlety to incorporate them organically into the story. The radio host played by Ron Perlman, for example, is an important part of Simon's radicalization, but the way certain ideas gradually take hold of him does not always feel entirely natural.
That is a shame, because a movie like this benefits greatly when the audience is given the opportunity to slowly realize for themselves what is happening to the protagonist.
Theo Rossi Carries Come With Me
The biggest problem with Come With Me ultimately lies in Simon's character development.
The way the protagonist gradually changes is unfortunately not always particularly strong or believable. And that is a significant problem, because this is precisely what the movie relies on most heavily.
Theo Rossi does what he can with the role. His performance contains enough vulnerability and frustration to make Simon feel like a person rather than simply a walking social statement. You can understand where his dissatisfaction comes from, even when you completely disagree with the way he ultimately chooses to deal with it.
Still, the film does not always manage to make every step of his transformation convincing.
As a result, it becomes difficult at times to consistently connect with the protagonist and the story. You understand what the movie is trying to say, but you do not always feel that the character's development has been properly earned.
The Buildup Is Better Than Where Come With Me Leads
Perhaps that is ultimately the best way to describe Come With Me: the buildup is often considerably better than where it leads.
The first half contains some interesting observations about a man who becomes increasingly alienated from his surroundings. It is a gradual process, and that is where the film's strength lies. His frustrations continue to pile up, while the influence of other people becomes increasingly important.
But once Come With Me starts moving toward its inevitable conclusion, everything becomes somewhat more predictable and heavy-handed.
As a result, the movie ultimately fails to hit as hard as it probably intended to.
Does Come With Me Ask the Right Questions?
And this brings us to perhaps the most important question: does Come With Me actually ask questions that need to be asked, and does it provide satisfying answers to them?
Again, the answer will undoubtedly differ from person to person.
There is certainly plenty to discuss. The film touches on subjects such as social alienation, the influence of media, personal responsibility, and the way frustration can turn into anger. These are undoubtedly relevant themes.
But relevant does not automatically mean that a movie handles them particularly well.
Come With Me clearly has something to say, but sometimes it is simply very obvious that the film wants to say something. As a result, the story occasionally feels a little too much like a message being pushed toward the audience.
And honestly, I do not expect this to be a movie that will have a huge impact on the wider debate or on the world itself. Ultimately, it is simply not sharp, subtle, or innovative enough for that.
Come With Me – Interesting, But Not Convincing Enough
That certainly does not make Come With Me a bad movie. There are plenty of interesting ideas here, and at times the film succeeds in creating an uncomfortable portrait of how someone can gradually spiral downward when frustration and harmful influences continue to reinforce one another.
But in my opinion, the movie should have had more confidence in its own concept.
Less explaining, less forcing things, and more time devoted to Simon's development would probably have produced a much stronger result. As it stands, Come With Me regularly feels like a movie that wants to be an interesting character study, but one that too often gets ahead of itself along the way.
Come With Me is therefore a movie you will probably find either quite interesting or quite preachy. Perhaps even both. Where you ultimately land will largely depend on how you personally view the themes it explores.
For me, the overriding feeling is that there was more potential here.
Rating: 6/10
