Horror Hybrid Significant Other Holds Itself Back

An unbearably dull relationship is jolted by unfathomable domestic terrors in Significant Other, the latest horror offering from filmmakers Dan Berk and Robert Olsen (Villains, Body). The film begins relatively straightforward, with humdrum hetero couple Ruth (Maika Monroe) and Harry (Jake Lacy) embarking on what looks like an ill-fated hiking trip in the Pacific Northwest. As it progresses, however, Significant Other gradually splinters into various subgenres, creating an overarching amalgamation of horror nods and references that never spills over into outright pastiche. Berk and Olsen take a big swing by overtly hailing far-flung influences—Spielberg, Aster, Kaufman—without overstuffing their film with incessant references. But they don’t quite follow through on their initial ambition, and the movie feels frustratingly restrained.
It doesn’t take long for things to take a turn for the eerie: Ruth begins to hear disconcerting sounds in the dead of night, and Harry is disturbed by his girlfriend’s compulsion to investigate. On several occasions, Harry wakes in the wee hours of the morning only to find himself completely alone in an empty tent. He eventually locates Ruth on the periphery of their campsite, staring into the black abyss of the forest with overwhelming fear and curiosity. It’s unclear whether Ruth is under the influence of a sinister force, or if she’s uncovering something much more horrifying about her long-time boyfriend. What is apparent, however, is that this relationship will not emerge from the verdant forest unscathed—if the couple even manages to survive at all.
Significant Other spends a lot of time sowing the seed of doubt between the two partners (the majority of jump scares in the first act simply involve the couple accidentally sneaking up on each other), yet the film doesn’t say anything particularly interesting about the commitment or expectations of two people in a long-term relationship. Ruth shuts down emotionally when Harry randomly proposes to her, but there’s no deeper probing as to why so many women are increasingly rejecting this cultural norm. Sure, the scary things that happen to the couple can be read as a manifestations of these anxieties—fear of changing into something unrecognizable, of being devoured, of being betrayed—but there’s certainly a failed opportunity to comment upon the crumbling state of idyllic heterosexual unions. Instead, the filmmakers opt for the stale “mental health as horror” take, culminating in a finale that’s far more interested in the physical sensation of anxiety than the societal influences behind it.