The Chilling Shia LaBeouf Movie Dominating Netflix Charts Right Now
Before he was making waves at the box office with the "Transformers" trilogy, Shia LaBeouf starred in 2007's chilling thriller "Disturbia." One of his earliest projects as a leading man, the film was a teen-friendly riff on Alfred Hitchcock's paranoid "Rear Window." Nearly two decades after its release, the D.J. Caruso-directed picture is dominating the charts on Netflix. The film is the most-watched film worldwide on Netflix as of May 21, outranking the streaming service's "Mother of the Bride." LaBeouf's thriller is particularly making waves in countries like Canada, Turkey, and Italy.
We all know LaBeouf was never the same after "Transformers," but "Disturbia" was released months before the robot action film hit screens. Despite not yet being a household name, LaBeouf's clout as a child actor helped bring "Disturbia" a worldwide haul north of $115 million. Critical reception definitely helped the thriller, as the pic boasts a solid 70% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Suzanne Tenner of the San Francisco Chronicle described the release as "an eminently watchable thriller with built-in appeal to teens" in a positive review.
Critics aren't the only fans of "Disturbia," as users on the film-centric social media site Letterboxd have plenty of good things to say about the 2000s pic. The thriller has a solid 3.1-star rating based on over 120,000 scored reviews. "[...] this movie is way better [than] it ought to be. It's got laughs, thrills, and some genuine scares," wrote user Joel Winstead, whose near-perfect review also highlighted LaBeouf's strong performance.
Disturbia stars LaBeouf as a troubled teen on house arrest
"Disturbia" follows Kale (Shia LaBeouf), a high school student who is placed on house arrest after assaulting his teacher. Cooped up at home and with tons of free time on his hands, Kale starts spying on his neighbors, including his crush, Ashley (Sarah Roemer). After they form a bond, the two begin to realize that Kale's new neighbor Robert (David Morse) might be a serial killer, leading them to dark, disturbing discoveries. In addition to LaBeouf, the film features "The Matrix" star Carrie-Anne Moss as Kale's mom. The film was notably co-written by Christopher Landon, who went on to pen and direct several contemporary horror films like "Happy Death Day" and "Freaky."
While many might wonder what happened to LaBeouf's star power and dominance over Hollywood blockbusters, "Disturbia" is a great example of the actor shining in a small, relatively grounded project. The film was produced on a minimal $20 million budget but became a major hit for LaBeouf at a critical point in his career. Prior to "Disturbia," LaBeouf was mainly known for supporting roles in blockbusters like "I, Robot" and his various Disney projects, which included the kid-friendly sitcom "Even Stevens."
Unfortunately, "Disturbia" isn't streaming on Netflix in the U.S., but fans can also watch it on Paramount+. Don't have Paramount+ but still want to see the actor in a more dramatic role? At the time of writing, Netflix is giving one of LaBeouf's best movies a second life.