An Average Movie-Goer’s Review
Spoilers! If you don’t want spoilers – check out the Spoiler-Free post
I love horror movies and if I’m going to watch them anyway, why not write an entertaining/funny review from the POV of an average movie-goer and not a professional critic.
Today we’re looking at the Shudder 2021 exclusive Superhost
Vloggers Claire and Teddy head to a remote rental place for their Superhost show and meet the overly-enthusiastic host who might be hiding some deadly secrets
Is Superhost (2021) Scary?
Superhost is pretty tense, has a few good jump scares, and can be pretty unsettling at times. While it’s not the scariest movie you’ll watch, you will feel for the characters when shit hits the fan.
Overall you won’t leave the movie scared unless you’re planning on staying at a rental or know someone who won’t stop smiling.
Plot Synopsis:
The film opens with a YouTube video because our main characters Teddy and Claire (played by Osric Chau and Sara Canning respectively) host a popular show called Superhost. Basically, they go to Airbnbs, post reviews on them, and interview the hosts for the show. For their latest episode, they’re going to a rental owned by Superhost BettyLou52 that has some pretty great reviews.
Once they’re done filming, Claire heads to take a shower, and Teddy continues filming secretly telling the audience that he plans on proposing to Claire on the trip. A little while later the two arrive at the rental but the security code doesn’t work.
As they film their reactions we find out, there’s very spotty cell service, their channel is losing subscribers, and Claire is the one who is more focused on channel growth. During a second take, the way-too-excited rental owner appears behind Claire. She clarifies that BettyLou52 is just a fake name she uses online and her actual name is Rebecca (played by Gracie Gillam).
Rebecca helps them inside and gives them the new code while being way too jolly. Teddy heads to the bathroom and discovers it’s clogged. Rebecca enthusiastically offers to come by the next day to fix it.
Claire attempts to record Rebecca for the show but Rebecca turns away immediately. After Claire explains she emailed her earlier about the show, Rebecca “remembers” and very obviously lies about forgetting. Rebecca is totally hiding dead bodies somewhere.
As Claire and Teddy film the tour portion of the show, they find a room marked as storage with a “Do Not Enter” sign, they realize the home has A LOT of cameras inside, and they find a cat room but haven’t seen a cat. Since they’re filming for the show, their personalities are overly enthusiastic so we don’t see how they actually feel about it.
While they upload the episode, the two talk out on the balcony about their channel’s trouble and their financial issues. That night Teddy wakes up and sees the episode is still uploading because of the shitty internet. Going outside on the balcony he spots someone watching him from afar.
Claire comes outside and jumpscares Teddy. When he looks back at where that person (clearly Rebecca) was watching him, they’re gone. DUN DUNN DUNN. Claire tells him maybe it was just an animal and the two go back to bed.
The following morning they wake up to find out their channel has been suspended and Claire immediately goes outside to call support. Rebecca shows up with some tools for the bathroom, questions how their stay has been, and says she hopes she gets a good review. Claire politely dismisses her and sends her inside to talk to Ted.
Rebecca is unable to fix the toilet and before she leaves, she once again hopes it doesn’t negatively impact their review. Claire and Teddy go for a walk in the woods and we learn more about their methodologies when it comes to the channel.
Claire alludes to doing something like one of their popular clickbait videos involving a Superhost named Vera but Ted wants to avoid clickbait stuff.
That night the two are awakened by sounds coming from the first floor of the house. A clearly frightened Ted heads downstairs to check the alarm and finds that it hasn’t been deactivated. Hearing sounds coming from the bathroom, he discovers the toilet is gurgling and reaches in, pulling out dentures.
The next morning Ted finds their channel has been reactivated and heads downstairs where Rebecca has let herself in to make breakfast for them. Later as the two enjoy breakfast alone, Claire looks at the security camera and thanks Rebecca for breakfast. A ping is heard and Rebecca’s voice comes over the speaker thanking them.
So, she’s been listening the whole time.
Later Claire and Ted are filming their vlog and Claire refers to Rebecca as crazy. Ted stops her and points out that she might be listening. Ted deactivates the camera in the room and in a jump scare a rock hits the nearby window.
The two head outside and find Vera (played by Barbara Crampton) who starts yelling that their video has cost her her entire business. Rebecca comes running down and questions what’s going on. Vera warns Rebecca about Claire and Ted damaging her business by spreading lies in their videos but Claire points out Vera just threw a rock at the window.
Rebecca flips out on Vera, demanding she leave or she’ll cut her open. Vera drives off scared and Claire tells Rebecca she was badass.
Rebecca says she came there to do the interview and the three head inside. The interview starts and for the first time besides threatening to kill someone, Rebecca loses her jolly demeanor and appears nervous.
Ted asks if there was ever a guest who left a memorable impression on her and Rebecca gets teary-eyed. She tells them the story of an older couple who rented the home for an entire month over the Christmas and New Year holidays. They saw that Rebecca was alone and invited her to celebrate with them. A tear rolls down as she says she felt like they were her family.
That night Claire and Ted edit the video and Claire is excited as she believes Rebecca’s “crazy” demeanor will bring in tons of views. Later as Claire is sleeping, Ted films a secret update and says he plans on proposing the following day.
Although he hears something behind him, he dismisses it and finishes filming but he doesn’t notice someone watching him from the window the entire time. After going to sleep, the camera pans around and we see Rebecca watching the two from the balcony door.
The following day Ted and Claire go for a walk to the spot where Ted wants to propose. On their way, Claire is filming recapping the confrontation between Vera and Rebecca while an uncomfortable Ted asks her to stop filming. At the spot, Claire starts filming again and Ted takes the camera from her.
Setting it down a few feet away but having it record them, Ted proposes and Claire happily accepts. Immediately after accepting, she calls him a genius and thinks about the views the secret proposal will get. Ted realizes that Claire thinks the proposal was a stunt for more views and Claire realizes that Ted was sincere in his proposal.
Ted walks away heartbroken leaving Claire confused. She eventually catches up to him, apologizes, and promises to talk about it without cameras when they’re back home.
Ted grabs the mail as the two head back inside. Claire tries to set the alarm but the code has stopped working, Ted tries but Rebecca turns it off remotely telling them, over the speaker, that it’s broken.
In the living room, Claire spots their laptop open and on the floor playing the interview they had with Rebecca on a loop. Meanwhile, Ted sees mail addressed to Betty and Lou Jorgensen, meaning that Rebecca lied about BettyLou52 being a fake name she uses.
After showing Claire, and in an unprecedented move in a horror movie, the two decide to get the fuck outta there. The two drive off but Rebecca stops them down the road, waving like she isn’t creepy as fuck.
Rebecca thanks them for staying at the rental but says she has one last thing to show them in the woods and points out it’ll be great for the video. Ted doesn’t want to go saying they have enough footage but Claire wants more crazy footage of Rebecca and convinces him.
Claire starts recording and Rebecca turns her energy up to 11 as she starts to introduce the show. Losing his patience, Ted asks Rebecca why they’re in the woods and Rebecca instead asks why Claire isn’t wearing the engagement ring.
Ted is annoyed but Claire convinces Ted to keep going. Hey, how about stopping and wondering how the hell Rebecca knew about the proposal?
Rebecca takes them further into the woods and we get a jump scare when Rebecca pops out from behind them to scare them. Further along, Rebecca brings them to Vera who she has kidnapped and tied up.
Rebecca gets very serious, questioning why Claire isn’t filming as Ted tells her to let Vera go. Rebecca puts out a hunting knife and demands they start filming or else she’ll kill Vera.
Rebecca asks if it’s true that they caused Vera to lose her source of income and Ted replies that it wasn’t their intention. She tells them that she felt bad for things going wrong during their stay and wants to make it up to them by capitalizing on Vera showing up. Rebecca bends down, apologizes to Vera, pulls out her knife, and stabs her in the back.
As Vera cries out in pain, Rebecca mocks her cries. She then turns to Claire and asks why she’s not filming as it’ll be great for the show. Rebecca turns to Vera and reveals it was all a prank as a way to get back at Claire and Ted for making Vera lose money.
Rebecca unties Vera and they both bow for their performance. Rebecca then takes Claire’s camera and gives it to Vera so she can sell it to recoup some money. Pretty sure this is still considered theft but okay. As Vera and Rebecca start to walk off, Ted apologizes to Vera. He then asks Rebecca what she did to Betty and Lou and Rebecca stops in her tracks.
Rebecca removes her jacket, apologizes to a very confused Vera, takes out a knife, and stabs her through the face. She then stabs her multiple times in the stomach as Vera dies. Turning to Claire and Ted, she tells them they were so close to leaving alive.
Claire and Ted run as Rebecca picks up the camera, noting that it still works. Arriving at the house, Claire starts having panic attacks which is fair considering the brutal murder she just witnessed. She and Ted head inside and although they note that Rebecca is totally going to return to the house, they don’t grab weapons.
Ted attempts to use Claire’s phone to get some cell service to reach the cops but ends up running back inside when he thinks he hears Rebecca coming. Claire decides to set off the alarm to alert the police but Rebecca turns it off remotely every time she tries.
Claire promises to not tell anyone about what’s happening and says she’ll delete everything but Rebecca simply walks away. Claire decides to go into the storage room with the “do not enter” sign to look for another way out.
I’d like to point out that she enters the room WITHOUT A WEAPON. In the room, Claire discovers that Rebecca has been living in the room the entire time and has a computer with slightly better internet access.
Meanwhile, Ted keeps a lookout on the first floor with a fire poker. Over the speaker, Rebecca tells Ted what actually happened to Betty and Lou. Turns out Rebecca was the renter and she refused to leave the home.
She begged them to let her stay as she fell in love with the place and loved them but when they refused, she killed them including their cat. After killing them and cleaning up the mess, Ted and Claire arrived forcing her to play the part.
Downstairs, Claire logs into YouTube or whatever the video-sharing platform they use is called, and creates a video asking people to call the police. As she starts the upload Rebecca appears behind her. Ted hears Claire’s screams and rushes downstairs. There he finds Rebecca having beaten Claire and he begs her not to kill her.
Rebecca slices Claire’s throat open, killing her. A shocked Ted walks backward out of the room but before he can close and lock the door, Rebecca is able to stab him in the side of the stomach. Ted stumbles out of the house and sees Rebecca exiting through a hidden crawlspace carrying Claire’s camera.
Ted runs and Rebecca turns the camera on herself acting like she’s the host of the show. She rates the house 0 stars for the amount of blood and for the dead body she found.
Ted stumbles through the woods eventually getting to the car but can’t unlock it as Rebecca has the keys. Falling to the ground, Ted attempts to call the cops but Rebecca reaches him before the call can go through.
Continuing to film, Rebecca takes the engagement ring from Ted and acts out how she would have accepted. After putting it on, she tells Ted he was her favorite and she stabs him in the chest, killing him. What the fuck? No one even tried to fight to live.
A little while later, Rebecca drives back to the house with Ted’s body in the back. In the kitchen, she cleans up and adds the engagement ring to her necklace which appears to have a couple of other rings on it. Entering the storage room, she discovers that the video Claire recorded about Rebecca being a murderer has completed its upload.
Initially, Rebecca is angry but the anger turns to joy when she sees the first comments are calling it clickbait and fake. Which is not at all what would happen. The first few comments would totally say “first” but then the people commenting initially would be those who signed up for notifications so they would be fans.
There would be dozens of other videos talking about this within a few hours and this would reach the front page of Reddit immediately with people trying to solve it themselves. Anyway, the film ends with Rebecca letting Claire and Ted’s next video play as she drags Claire’s body away.
Review:
Superhost is good and is almost great but the ending prevents that from happening. The acting especially from Osric Chau and Superhost Gracie Gillam is great. Dialogue makes sense and the story is a well-told self-contained story.
The ending is where I have a problem, our main characters appear to just willingly accept death. They don’t try to put up a fight and barely arm themselves. That’s not necessarily a bad thing but for Osric Chau’s Ted, it goes against his character arc, making it unsatisfactory.
Throughout the movie he is seen as a wimp, going along with whatever Claire says even if he doesn’t agree and he’s scared when he hears sounds at night. But, he was shown to attempt bravery every time. His character arc is clearly overcoming that fear and doing something completely out of his comfort zone, and being brave.
At one point he runs back into the house thinking he hears Rebecca coming and out loud says he’s not a hero. That was his character’s low point, here is where you expect him to break out of that shell after a traumatic event and overcome that fear. When that event happens, Claire’s death, he barely puts up a fight. It leaves with you a very anti-climatic ending and a broken promise of a character arc.
Compare that to Claire’s character arc where she puts the videos, subscribers, and views ahead of everything else. Her character arc is realizing that it’s not as important as she thinks it is and we see this happen when she willingly offers to delete everything.
The last bit of the ending also rubbed me the wrong way, it leaned way too heavily on the “internet and people on the internet are bad” schtick. Everyone calling Claire’s video fake was so nihilistic it was unbelievable especially if you’ve been around the internet enough.
There was a comment that did say “Not this again” which was interesting. If Claire and Ted had done something like this in the past where they fakes an injury or something then this ending would have made more sense but we don’t see that. All we’re told is that one of their videos ruined Vera’s business.
Another negative that some might have with this movie although I think it was a positive and fit the character, was Gracie Gillam’s acting as Rebecca. It teetered on that line of overacting but while some might not like it, I felt it was the best part of the movie as it makes the movie unsettling. You can tell there’s something off about her and you just don’t know what it is.
Interestingly if you pause the film at the start when Claire and Ted are talking about going to BettyLou52’s rental, you see clippings of the comments other reviewers left. It’s pretty clear from the comments that Betty and Lou are two people. If Claire and Ted had actually read them, they would have known Rebecca was lying.
Overall I highly recommend Superhost, it’s fun, entertaining, and has some great acting.
Cast IMDB