In the early scenes of See For Me, protagonist Sophie (Skyler Davenport) goes on a detailed tour of a large, isolated house she's been hired to take care of while its owner is away. Sophie, who is blind, needs to have a clear understanding of her new surroundings; but this choice by the filmmakers also showcases what obstacles and advantages await for Sophie in the home, and it pays off later when she faces robbers. See For Me elegantly sets up the action to come, which is essential for crafting a suspenseful and engaging home invasion thriller.
Writers Adam Yorke and Tommy Gushue and director Randall Okita establish Sophie as a fully realized, flawed character. She's a former champion skier blinded in an accident, and she still carries anger and resentment over her misfortune. The movie opens with her listening to a broadcast of a skiing championship, one that she likely would have competed in if it weren't for her accident. She lives with her concerned mother and makes money by taking house-sitting gigs -- which she augments by stealing items from the houses she stays in and later selling them online. As she figures, no one ever suspects the helpless blind woman.
Sophie is likable and endearing, but it's refreshing that the movie doesn't present her as a flawless martyr. She's impatient and quick-tempered, whether with the friend she video-calls to describe the layout of the house to her or with the operators on the app See For Me, which provides aid to people who are visually impaired. Sophie first uses See For Me when she locks herself out of the house, and that's when she connects with no-nonsense operator Kelly (Jessica Parker Kennedy), a military veteran and video gamer whose skills prove quite useful when Sophie has to fend off dangerous intruders.
The filmmakers of See For Me draw from recent films like Don't Breathe and Mike Flanagan's Hush, as well as the 1967 classic Wait Until Dark, starring Audrey Hepburn as a blind woman dealing with devious criminals breaking into her apartment. All of these movies showcase characters with disabilities gaining an advantage over their ostensibly able-bodied adversaries. See For Me adds in the layer of Kelly as Sophie's guide, pointing out the locations of the three intruders and helping Sophie find the best ways to defend herself.
Kelly uses the app to put the image from Sophie's phone screen on a large monitor in her gaming set-up, and certain moments in the second half of the movie have the feel of a first-person shooter video game. The various stylized elements never overwhelm the straightforward storytelling, though, and the action is always smooth and easy to follow, even when the lights go out and Sophie is the only one who can navigate the house confidently. Okita has a strong visual sense, and the gorgeous, expansive location is perfect for both close-quarters battles and exciting chases.
A slight twist midway through See For Me complicates the story a bit, and there are times when the characters' actions seem slightly illogical. Even factoring in Kelly's help, Sophie veers too closely into Daredevil territory at times -- demonstrating higher accuracy and expertise in fighting her enemies than seems possible. Mostly, though, she's a believable mix of scared and resilient, and like Hepburn's character in Wait Until Dark, she undergoes an inner transformation from self-pity to self-assurance over the course of her ordeal.
Davenport, who is legally blind, gets billed as "introducing" in the opening credits, but they've been working as a voice actor -- mainly in video games and anime -- for nearly a decade. Their screen presence is charismatic and commanding, whether as an elite athlete or a frightened target. Kennedy matches Davenport's presence, even though the two of them never interact in person, and their dynamic deepens over the course of the movie. Veteran character actor Kim Coates is appropriately menacing as the invaders' leader, delivering most of his performance as a voice on the phone before making a memorable onscreen entrance.
Ultimately, See For Me plays out in a familiar pattern recognizable from decades of home invasion thrillers, and it's never quite as gruesome or as intense as it could be. But the distinctive characters and the innovative storytelling elements add enough to make it feel fresh. It's a modern, progressive take on a dependable subgenre.
See For Me opens Friday, January 7 in select theaters and on VOD.