Locked (2025) [DVD]

Director: David Yarovesky

Cast: Bill Skarsgård, Anthony Hopkins

Release Date: August 26, 2025

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Film Rating: 7/10
Disc Rating: 6/10

Synopsis:

From producer Sam Raimi (Evil Dead, Drag Me to Hell) comes a relentless horror-thriller where luxury becomes deadly. When Eddie (Bill Skarsgård) breaks into a luxury SUV, he steps into a deadly trap set by William (Anthony Hopkins), a self-proclaimed vigilante delivering his own brand of twisted justice. With no means of escape, Eddie must fight to survive in a ride where escape is an illusion, survival is a nightmare, and justice shifts into high gear.

‘Locked’ joins a thief named Eddie who is trying to get by and after needing some repair work done on his van is on the lookout for any way to obtain the money he needs to get it back. Coming across an expensive SUV in a random parking lot and finding the door conveniently unlocked, Eddie jumps in and begins to hunt for anything that he can sell. But when he tries to get out of the vehicle he realizes that he’s been locked in. Before long he discovers that the car has been specially designed to keep anyone from escaping and a phone call from the gentleman that owns the vehicle introduces Eddie to the true terror on hand; that he has locked Eddie in and plans to do whatever he likes to the criminal. Without food, water or much of anything else, Eddie must find a way to win the man over or miraculously escape before things turn deadly for both him and others.

Directed by David Yarovesky (Brightburn, Nightbooks) from a screenplay written by Michael Arlen Ross (Turistas) and based upon the film “4×4” by Mariano Cohn & Gastón Duprat, Yarovesky does a nice job at the helm of ‘Locked’ guiding along the tense and claustrophobic thriller with care and style. The film’s limited cast includes Bill Skarsgård (Nosferatu 2024) and Anthony Hopkins (The Father), as well as co-starring Michael Eklund (Antlers), Ashley Cartwright (TV’s Alert: Missing Persons Unit) and Navid Charkhi (TV’s Laid), with most offering capable performances in their respective roles, although Skarsgård and Hopkins are the real stars of this one and both offer quite notable performances within.

‘Locked’ serves up a tense, unnerving and fairly solid thriller that follows one thief’s struggle to escape a dangerous situation once he indirectly becomes a pawn in a man’s sick idea of vengeance against those committing criminal acts in the city. It’s a fascinating exploration of our world as well as the perspectives of different generations who often see things in different ways. Initially it delves into the accountability of ones actions and how far some might go to take a stand after being repeatedly wronged, yet does the form of justice in one man’s mind go beyond what is considered reasonably or just, especially when a casual thief soon begins fighting for his life. It asks the question of does the punishment fit the crime or is the reaction significantly worse than the crime that it’s in response to?

Films such as this that largely utilize one small location for much of the tale can go both ways and for the most part ‘Locked’ manages to do a capable job of building that tension and unease as things progress, although it does occasionally lose its way and become somewhat repetitive, yet often finding its way back to the right place. The impeccable casting of talented stars Bill Skarsgård and Anthony Hopkins play a significant part in making it work as well as it does and ongoing conversations and debates between two individuals over the phone could go either way, yet these two manage to pull you in and make it click more often than not, while also delivering some brutal and uncomfortably turns and scenarios along the way.

Overall, ‘Locked’ delivers an intense, engaging and at times even thought-provoking look at accountability, justice and the line between the two that can vary based on individual. With great performances by a pair of talented stars from different generations it comes together into a memorable and intriguing tale of two men locked in a battle of wits, opinions and what is right or wrong. ‘Locked’ is recommended for anyone that enjoys a tense and well-crafted, tightknit thriller with a limited setting, as well as any fans of lead stars Bill Skarsgård and Anthony Hopkins who should all find something to enjoy or appreciate about this unnerving thriller. If you’re even mildly interested in this one or the concept grabs your attention it should be worth ninety minutes of your time and the price of a rental to give a chance whenever convenient.

VIDEO:

The DVD release of ‘Locked’ is presented in a 16×9 friendly Widescreen presentation with the film’s original 2.76:1 Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks quite decent, especially within the confines of the aging DVD format and it delivers a generally clean, sharp and nicely detailed presentation from start to finish. The presentation is mostly absent of any troubles aside from a few moments of slightly noticeable video noise and pixilation on some darker, fast moving moments. Detail is capable on characters, surroundings and more, with no specifics becoming difficult to discern or differentiate within. Overall, this is a generally solid standard definition presentation that doesn’t necessarily shine but tends to hold up rather well.

AUDIO:

The DVD release features a 448 kbps 5.1 channel Dolby Digital soundtrack. This multichannel soundtrack provides a clean, immersive and fairly sharp presentation throughout that occasionally feels contained or mildly muffled due to the lack of bitrate (although nothing unusual for a DVD by any means) but otherwise makes for a nice complement to the onscreen tension and excitement. It utilizes all five available channels throughout in order to send blaring music, some action/violence and vehicle effects, street noise and more throughout the various speakers whenever fitting, while never negatively affecting any dialogue or other audio elements that might be occurring simultaneously. Overall, this is a nice 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack that delivers capably throughout and shouldn’t disappoint.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The DVD release of ‘Locked’ does not include any bonus material.

*Please note that the above images are taken from the DVD and resized. They will additionally suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this release are the property of their respective owners.

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Film Rating: 7/10
Disc Rating: 6/10

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 ‘Locked’ Arrives on DVD August 26, 2025 & is Now Available on Digital from The Avenue & Paramount Home Entertainment

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You can purchase ‘Locked’ on DVD at Amazon HERE!

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