Strung, the new Peacock thriller directed by Malcolm D. Lee, is a cautionary tale about following your gut—but the film itself fails to heed its own advice. Starring Chloe Bailey as Laila, a classical violinist aiming for a seat in the city philharmonic, the movie quickly spirals into a convoluted narrative that mixes suspense with melodrama. When Laila meets Audra (Lynn Whitfield), who offers her a lucrative tutoring job for her granddaughter Zuri (Romy Woods), the opportunity seems too good to be true. As Laila navigates the opulent but sterile world of the wealthy family, she uncovers dark secrets tied to Zuri's trauma and her own past.
A Promising Setup Undermined by a Busy Script
The film's opening establishes Laila's ambition and her frustration with a substitute teaching gig that feels like a dead end. Audra's offer appears to be a lifeline, but Laila's bright-eyed optimism blinds her to the red flags. Audra's daughter, Imani (Anna Diop), is cold and suspicious, while Zuri is a withdrawn child with severe allergies and a penchant for hiding behind a warrior mask. The script, penned by Alan McElroy, teases a classic killer kid trope but quickly abandons it, instead focusing on Zuri's father's murder and a tangled romantic subplot between Laila and Imani's husband, Marcus (Lucien Laviscount).
Detours and Tonal Shifts Weaken the Thrill
Strung is punctuated by detours that dilute its tension. Flashbacks to Laila's sister, whose fate is eventually spelled out by Audra, feel redundant. The romantic entanglements and ancillary character development drag the runtime to nearly two hours, making the film feel like a limited series inelegantly compressed into a feature. Director Malcolm D. Lee, known for comedies like Girls Trip, injects humor through Coco Jones's character Jasmine, Laila's skeptical best friend. Jasmine's comic timing provides relief but also underscores the film's identity crisis: it's not suspenseful enough for thriller fans, nor gory enough for horror enthusiasts.
Visual Polish Amidst Narrative Chaos
Despite its narrative flaws, Strung is slickly produced. Cinematographer Greg Gardiner captures the sterility of the wealthy household with washes of gold, indigo, and crimson, highlighting the characters' varied skin tones. The art direction and visual effects emphasize the gilded cage setting, though the South African filming location gives the film a generic, placeless feel. The soundtrack, blending classical, jazz, and hip-hop, is tonally appropriate. Lee's comedic background prevents the film from taking itself too seriously, but this also undermines the suspense.
A Co-Production That Plays It Safe
Strung is a Blumhouse-Tyler Perry co-production, and its hybrid nature shows. It lacks the edge of typical Blumhouse horror and the earnest drama of Perry's works. The film's climax, involving a viper in a closet, is more confounding than surprising. As the review states, "It doesn't have enough cliffhangers to appeal to the suspense crowd, nor enough gore to hook slasher fiends." The ultimate irony is that Strung, a film about trusting your gut, is a safe, algorithm-friendly product designed for background viewing on Peacock. It's watchable but forgettable—a compromise movie that, as the reviewer notes, "sings" only in its mediocrity.
