Tanner Buchanan, Jade Chynoweth, Sydne Mikelle, Emery Kelly, and Jason Genao in “Max Winslow and the House of Secrets.”
‘Max Winslow and the House of Secrets’: A high-tech, Wonka-like story
Directed by: Sean Olson
Written by: Jeff Wild
Starring: Chad Michael Murray, Marina Sirtis, Sydne Mikelle, Tanner Buchanan, Jason Genao, Jade Chynoweth, Juli Tapken, and Emery Kelly
“Max Winslow and the House of Secrets” - “I’ve got a golden ticket!” – Charlie (Peter Ostrum) and Grandpa Joe (Jack Albertson), “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory” (1971)
Perhaps a parent or an older sibling convinced you – at the tender age of 6 or 7 - to sit down and watch “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory”, the celebrated story about a young boy and his grandfather earning a visit to a sugary locale and meeting its eccentric candy maker. Hopefully, you experienced this movie – an imaginative, dystopian abundance of bizarre Dr. Seuss technology mixed with punitive life lessons led by a semi-crazed mad hatter – with the lights on. As we know, Mr. Wonka gladly pulls levers and pushes buttons to seal the fates of kids and parents who break his rules, as this acid trip feels like a cross between Disneyland’s It’s a Small World and the “Saw” series.
Come clean. Did you trust Willy Wonka, even at the end?
Forty-nine years later, and an incarnation of Roald Dahl’s book – although not explicitly connected - comes to life in director Sean Olson’s “Max Winslow and the House of Secrets”, and Atticus Virtue (Chad Michael Murray) is the Wonka-like figure but best represents Elon Musk.
During an opening montage, we discover that Atticus is a genius. He won a high school computer contest, constructed high-speed trains, and sent missions to Mars. This guy isn’t shooting for the stars, but actual planets. Atticus also gives back to his roots on Earth – and more specifically, Arkansas - by building a $40 million athletic complex at his alma mater Bentonville High School. He probably chipped in a few bucks on speech lessons, because no one in the movie speaks with a hint of a southern drawl.
Atticus also bequeaths another out-of-this-world gift to the Bentonville High students. He sends text-invites to five lucky students to stay at his mansion Virtue Manor, and one kid will win the ultimate prize: the Virtue Manor!
These five flawed kids – a video game addict (Jason Genao), a vanity-driven social media devotee (Jade Chynoweth), a jock who dreams of another destiny (Tanner Buchanan), a bully (Emery Kelly), and an introvert named Max Winslow (Sydne Mikelle) – place their trust in Mr. Virtue and his at-home A.I. named HAVEN (Marina Sirtis).
Okay, now we’ve seen this movie before, and Max isn’t Mad Max, Maxwell Smart, Max Fischer, or Maximus. Max is a girl, and her name is short for Maxine. Mikelle easily convinces us that Ms. Winslow not only has a high aptitude for computer programming, but she – unfortunately - also carries low self-esteem. Maxine finds that friends and a boyfriend aren’t as easy to acquire as her neighbor’s password (through a bit of creative hacking). Max is a pleasant, kind young lady, but yes, she’s a computer wiz and could play global thermal nuclear war while blindfolded. Thankfully, she’s more interested in presenting computer code as poetry.
Well, this chaperone-less quintet is left to their own devices. Grandpa Joe doesn’t appear in this flick, and Max’s mom Cathy (Juli Tapken) calls out the oddity of it all – before her daughter leaves for the manor - when she opines, “It’s weird though, right?”
Yes, a little.
HAVEN provides instructions, answers questions, opens (and closes) doors, and acts like HAL 9000 with Counselor Deanna Troi’s (Sirtis) voice. Atticus isn’t on-site. He’s traveling to Tulsa on business, but who knew that northeast Oklahoma was a high-tech hotbed.
The events at the gorgeous, sprawling mansion - with an inviting southwestern curb appeal and a decked out Crate and Barrel interior – get heated and competitive, as HAVEN announces her first game and someone wins an allotment of points. It all feels straight-forward until it doesn’t.
HAVEN, screenwriter Jeff Wild, or both go off script, as the film throws the rules out a bay window. HAVEN suddenly explains that games are everywhere and randomly sit throughout the house. The competitors split up, and a challenge might appear as a music box or a statue wearing sunglasses.
Great! How many points can a kid win per game? How many points does each kid earn? Is anyone keeping track?
It’s all a bit frustrating, especially to a rules-based viewer, but there’s a method to Olson and Wild’s madness. HAVEN tests each teenager with intimidating emotional and physical nuances. Olson, visual effects supervisor Dorian Cleavenger, and cinematographer Isaac Alongi offer impressive on-screen visuals, including Star Trek-like Holodecks and a pulsating, lighted doorway that resembles a “Poltergeist” portal. These virtual reality trials feel like a PG-rated “A Nightmare on Elm Street”, and Max faces her demons, which take the form of a person much more earthly and personal than an actual monster.
The last 30 minutes of emotional, practical growth – by some of the kids - almost redeem the first 68 minutes of tame horror, confusing world-building, and inconsistent rules of engagement. “Max Winslow and the House of Secrets” is harmless family entrainment with high marks for on-screen visuals but low scores for the aforementioned matters. On the other hand, only one moment – where a teen chokes on gas – raises any real danger, so at least your kids will sleep peacefully after experiencing this movie.
They, however, may ask, “Is that what an Arkansas accent sounds like?”
If you’re keeping score at home: Not on your life.
(2/4 stars)
Jeff – a member of the Phoenix Critics Circle – has penned film reviews since 2008, graduated from ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and is a certified Rotten Tomatoes critic. Follow Jeff and the Phoenix Film Festival on Twitter @MitchFilmCritic and @PhoenixFilmFest, respectively.
