Straw Dogs

Straw Dogs (2011) is a thriller from director Rod Lurie you can watch online on iFILM. Screenwriter David and his actress wife Amy leave Los Angeles for the small Mississippi town where she grew up, settling into an old house to write in peace.

The local crew that shows up to fix the barn roof is led by Amy's high school ex, Charlie. They start friendly enough. Then come the lingering stares, the dead cat in the closet, the hunting trip that lures David away so the house sits empty. James Marsden plays the soft-spoken outsider who keeps swallowing his pride; Kate Bosworth is the wife who senses the threat long before he does; Alexander Skarsgård brings an easy charm to a predator who isn't used to hearing no.

This is a remake of Sam Peckinpah's brutal 1971 film, and Lurie keeps its central dare intact: at what point does a quiet man stop retreating and start defending what's his. The siege that closes the film is not for the squeamish. It rewards anyone who likes slow-burn tension that suddenly snaps. Stream Straw Dogs (2011) online on iFILM.