Close Menu
  • Login
  • Support Us
  • Newsletter
  • News
  • Features
  • Interviews
  • Reviews
    • Video Games
      • Previews
      • PC
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X/S
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Xbox One
      • PS4
      • Tabletop
    • Film
    • TV
    • Anime
    • Comics
      • BOOM! Studios
      • Dark Horse Comics
      • DC Comics
      • IDW Publishing
      • Image Comics
      • Indie Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • Oni-Lion Forge
      • Valiant Comics
      • Vault Comics
  • Podcast
  • More
    • Event Coverage
    • BWT Recommends
    • RSS Feeds
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Support Us
But Why Tho?
RSS Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube
Trending:
  • Features
    Momo and Okarun share a close moment in Dandadan

    Momo And Okarun: The Gold Standard For Shonen Romance

    07/03/2025
    Ironheart Episodes 4 6 But Why Tho 1

    ‘Ironheart’ Explained: Explore MCU’s Bold New Chapter

    07/01/2025
    Buck in 9-1-1

    ‘9-1-1’ Has To Let Buck Say Bisexual

    06/29/2025
    Nintendo Welcome Tour promotional image of the maraca mini-game

    The One “Game” That Justifies The Nintendo Switch 2 Purchase

    06/25/2025
    Destiel Confession in Supernatural - Castiel (Misha Collins) and Dean (Jensen Ackles)

    The Destiel Confession: The Lasting Importance Of Supernatural’s Greatest Ship

    06/22/2025
  • Squid Game
  • K-Dramas
  • Netflix
  • Switch 2 Games
  • Summer Game Fest
But Why Tho?
Home » Film » FANTASTIC FEST 2020: Hodags, Hostage Situations, and ‘How to Deter a Robber’

FANTASTIC FEST 2020: Hodags, Hostage Situations, and ‘How to Deter a Robber’

Cait KennedyBy Cait Kennedy09/29/20204 Mins ReadUpdated:08/22/2022
How to Deter a Robber
Share
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Reddit WhatsApp Email

How to Deter a Robber

What good is sweet without a little bit of salty? Especially something as saccharine as the typical holiday movie. How To Deter a Robber‘s unassuming beginnings, as a tale of family tension around the holidays, conceal just how much fun it can be when shit hits the fan! Watching How To Deter a Robber conjured up memories of another badass take on the holidays in the form of another great Fantastic Fest title, Deadly Games (screened at the Fest in 2018). It couldn’t be more appropriate for How To Deter a Robber to have its World Premiere at the legendary genre fest… even if it is all virtual. As we enter the cozy time of year, most of us still huddled up in our homes, what could be better than a holiday romp that takes your safety blanket of hearth and home and flips it on its head?

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

How To Deter a Robber is written and directed by Maria Bissell, in her feature debut, and stars Vanessa Marano, Benjamin Papac, and Chris Mulkey (Twin Peaks). In How To Deter a Robber, Madison (Vanessa Marano) is a young woman looking to catch a break.  She’s preparing to head off to college, but her parents still treat her like a child. During a holiday dinner, where everything goes wrong, Madison sneaks off with her boyfriend Jimmy to vent and shake off the awkward evening when they see a mysterious light coming from the neighbor’s house. Their investigation turns into a chance to hang out alone and it’s all fun and games until Jimmy breaks a ceramic hodag (a mythical creature of the North Woods — yeah, it’s a thing). That’s only the beginning of their bad luck, as Jimmy and Madison fall asleep at the neighbor’s house and wake up to discover there had been a robbery during their stay.

Now, with the police looking over their shoulder and a string of similar robberies occurring in the area, Madison and Jimmy — with the help of Madison’s Uncle Andy — are determined to get to the bottom of things. What none of them considered is that it may cost them their lives. They’re just kids, what do they know about deterring a robber?

It’s easy to place How To Deter a Robber squarely in-between Home Alone and Deadly Games, films separated by decades but each linked through playful inspiration. How To Deter a Robber truly straddles the two as a film that is firmly a comedy, with moments of intense action as a thriller. The film is a good time, at times a little goofy, and is at its best when it’s having fun.

How to Deter a Robber

How To Deter a Robber doesn’t exactly do anything new. It sets up its points and its stock characters and follows the typical beats. Predictable, but not a negative, because the commitment and talent are there. How To Deter a Robber is comfortable with being a fun holiday-horror-comedy and what it sets out to do, it does very well. Tonally, the film shifts quite a bit with mixed results (more on that later) but the end result is a sweet, heartful film with an impish streak.

Honestly, where How To Deter a Robber is most effective is as a coming of age story. This whole film is about rising to the occasion and leaving behind immaturity and inexperience when faced with a challenge. Madison has a great arc from a slightly whiny, inexperienced girl to a young woman that’s quick on her feet, fiercely loyal and brave, and able to come into herself and choose the life that suits her. Beyond Madison’s own growth and transformation, the comparison of her parents to the character of Uncle Andy speaks to the importance of trusting young people to grow.

If How To Deter a Robber stumbles anywhere, it’s in balancing the varying tones of the film. The film has such lightness and humor that the shift into a home invasion is jarring. The third act of the film introduces a little more blood, a little more violence, and a little more dire stakes, but it doesn’t necessarily feel earned. Some of these shifts are out of place but, to be square, How To Deter a Robber works regardless.

How To Deter a Robber has the makings of an alternative holiday favorite. It offers more than laughs, without becoming pretentious, and is sincerely executed. It’s refreshing to see a film that keeps fun firmly at the center. Naughty and nice and a damn good time.

How To Deter a Robber held its World Premiere as part of the 2020 Fantastic Fest and is available now on Prime Video.

How To Deter a Robber
  • 7/10
    Rating - 7/10
7/10

TL;DR

How To Deter a Robber has the makings of an alternative holiday favorite. It offers more than laughs, without becoming pretentious, and is sincerely executed. It’s refreshing to see a film that keeps fun firmly at the center. Naughty and nice and a damn good time.

  • Watch with Our Affiliate Link

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email
Previous ArticleFANTASTIC FEST 2020: The Boy Behind The Door
Next Article REVIEW: ‘Emily in Paris’ is Just the Serotonin You Need
Cait Kennedy
  • Website
  • Facebook
  • X (Twitter)

Caitlin is a sweater enthusiast, film critic, and lean, mean writing machine based in Austin, TX. Her love of film began with being shown Rosemary’s Baby at a particularly impressionable age and she’s been hooked ever since. She loves a good bourbon and hates people who talk in movies. Caitlin has been writing since 2014 and you can find her work on Film Inquiry, The Financial Diet, Nightmarish Conjurings, and many others. Follow her on Twitter at @CaitDoes.

Related Posts

The Old Guard 2
5.5

REVIEW: ‘The Old Guard 2’ Is Distracted And Half-Baked

07/02/2025
Scarlett Johansson and Jonathan Bailey in Jurassic World: Rebirth
5.5

REVIEW: ‘Jurassic World: Rebirth’ Is Best When Nobody Is Talking

06/30/2025
MEGAN 2.0 promotional image
7.0

REVIEW: ‘M3GAN 2.0’ Puts Action First

06/29/2025
F1 (2025) promotional key art
8.0

REVIEW: ‘F1’ Is A High-Octane Blockbuster

06/24/2025
KPop Demon Hunters Promotional image form Netflix
9.0

REVIEW: ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Brings Beautiful Animation And An Even Better Message

06/20/2025
Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Alfie Williams in 28 Years Later
8.5

REVIEW: ’28 Years Later’ Is How Franchises Should Return

06/18/2025

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here
TRENDING POSTS
Taecyeon and Seohyun in The First Night With The Duke Episodes 7-8
7.5
TV

REVIEW: ‘The First Night With The Duke’ Episodes 7-8

By Sarah Musnicky07/03/2025

The First Night With The Duke Episodes 7-8 spends welcome time in pre-domestic bliss before new developments stir up trouble.

The Terminal List: Dark Wolf trailer First Look Image From Prime Video News

Prime Video Unleashes Teaser for Prequel Series The Terminal List: Dark Wolf

By Kate Sánchez07/04/2025

The first Terminal List: Dark Wolf trailer was released today by Prime Video. The series…

Together (2025) still from Sundance
8.0
Film

REVIEW: Have A Grossly Good Time ‘Together’

By Kate Sánchez01/27/2025Updated:07/04/2025

Dave Franco and Alison Brie’s Together (2025) is disgustingly funny, genuinely ugly, and just a good time at the movies.

Black Women Anime — But Why Tho (9) BWT Recommends

10 Black Women in Anime That Made Me Feel Seen

By LaNeysha Campbell11/11/2023Updated:12/03/2024

Black women are some of anime’s most iconic characters, and that has a big impact on Black anime fans. Here are some of our favorites.

But Why Tho?
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest RSS YouTube Twitch
  • CONTACT US
  • ABOUT US
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER
  • Review Score Guide
Sometimes we include links to online retail stores. If you click on one and make a purchase we may receive a small contribution.
Written Content is Copyright © 2025 But Why Tho? A Geek Community

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

But Why Tho Logo

Support Us!

We're able to keep making content thanks to readers like YOU!
Support independent media today with
Click Here