# You Should Have Left
**You Should Have Left** is a 2020 American psychological horror film written and directed by [David Koepp](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-koepp), starring [Kevin Bacon](https://www.edgepedia.org/kevin-bacon), Amanda Seyfried, and Avery Essex as a couple and their young daughter whose vacation in a remote Welsh house turns into a supernatural ordeal when the house refuses to let them leave.[1](https://www.universalpicturesathome.com/movies/you-should-have-left) It was produced by Blumhouse Productions for Universal Pictures and adapted from Daniel Kehlmann's 2017 novella of the same name.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/you_should_have_left) • [3](https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781101871928)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director and writer | David Koepp, written for the screen from the novel by Daniel Kehlmann[4](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/you-should-have-left/credits/) |
| Cast | Kevin Bacon as Theo Conroy, Amanda Seyfried as Susanna, Avery Tiiu Essex as Ella[4](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/you-should-have-left/credits/) |
| Release | Streaming release June 19, 2020, on VOD rather than in theaters[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/you_should_have_left) |
| Runtime and rating | 1 hour 33–34 minutes; rated R for some violence, disturbing images, sexual content, and language[1](https://www.universalpicturesathome.com/movies/you-should-have-left) |
| Source novel | Kehlmann's novella, translated by Ross Benjamin, published by Pantheon in June 2017 at 128 pages[3](https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781101871928) |
| Reception | 40% on the Tomatometer from 110 reviews; 27% on the Popcornmeter from 500+ audience ratings[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/you_should_have_left) |
## Spoilers
### Premise
Theo Conroy (Kevin Bacon), a wealthy retired banker with a troubled past, takes a vacation in Wales with his much younger wife Susanna ([Amanda Seyfried](https://www.edgepedia.org/amanda-seyfried)), an actress, and their daughter Ella (Avery Essex). The house they rent is modern, enormous, and eerily symmetrical, and it begins to distort: hallways appear that do not fit the floor plan, Theo's reflection goes missing, photographs appear and disappear, and he suffers nightmares. A sinister force in the house prevents the family from leaving, and dark episodes from Theo's past resurface as reality unravels.[1](https://www.universalpicturesathome.com/movies/you-should-have-left) • [5](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review-you-should-have-left-prizes-narrative-efficiency-over-personality/) Koepp kept the house's history deliberately vague so that viewers are not sure what the house has in mind until the final twist.[6](https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/06/a-spooky-house-forces-kevin-bacon-to-face-his-demons-in-you-should-have-left/)
## The source novella
The film adapts *You Should Have Left* (Du hättest gehen sollen), a short first-person novel by the German author Daniel Kehlmann, one of Germany's most celebrated contemporary writers, translated into English by Ross Benjamin.[7](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/daniel-kehlmann/you-should-have-left/) In the book, an unnamed screenwriter trying to write a sequel to his hit film *Besties* rents a house in the mountains with his wife Susanna, an actress, and their four-year-old daughter Esther, keeping a notebook that is meant for the script but fills instead with marital tensions and, increasingly, inexplicable phenomena: a missing reflection, photographs that appear and vanish, dreams of an empty room with a naked light bulb, and a woman with awful eyes. A stranger in the nearest village tells him to get away quickly, and the same message begins appearing in the notebook in his own handwriting.[3](https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781101871928) Kirkus called it a classic haunted-house tale that also creates an existential dread beyond the typical ghost story.[7](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/daniel-kehlmann/you-should-have-left/)
## Development and changes from the book
**Origin of the project.** Bacon and Koepp had worked together on *[Stir of Echoes](https://www.edgepedia.org/stir-of-echoes)* (1999) and remained friends, periodically looking for a new collaboration. Bacon proposed a scary movie set in a marriage, and around the same time he read a review of Kehlmann's novella and told Koepp, "This has a lot of our story in it." They optioned the book and adapted it.[8](https://www.vitalthrills.com/interview-you-should-have-left-director-david-koepp/) Koepp, a longtime fan of what he calls "domestic horror," cited *Rosemary's Baby* among his favorites.[6](https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/06/a-spooky-house-forces-kevin-bacon-to-face-his-demons-in-you-should-have-left/)
The most significant change from the book is the protagonist's profession. Koepp made Theo a wealthy finance professional rather than a screenwriter, saying he did not want to write about a screenwriter and considered the writer-in-a-remote-house-losing-his-grip story overdone.[6](https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/06/a-spooky-house-forces-kevin-bacon-to-face-his-demons-in-you-should-have-left/) The film also leans on the leads' real age difference; Bacon is 27 years older than Seyfried, and the movie makes repeated references to the couple's age gap.[6](https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/06/a-spooky-house-forces-kevin-bacon-to-face-his-demons-in-you-should-have-left/) • [5](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review-you-should-have-left-prizes-narrative-efficiency-over-personality/)
## Production and release
The film was a Blumhouse production, with [Jason Blum](https://www.edgepedia.org/jason-blum), Kevin Bacon, and Dean O'Toole as producers and Derek Ambrosi, Couper Samuelson, and Jeanette Volturno among the executive producers; Geoff Zanelli composed the score and Angus Hudson was the director of photography.[4](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/you-should-have-left/credits/) Originally intended for theatrical release, it was instead released on premium video-on-demand on June 19, 2020, during the pandemic-era shift to streaming, and later arrived on digital, Blu-ray, and DVD.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/you_should_have_left) • [1](https://www.universalpicturesathome.com/movies/you-should-have-left)
## Reception
Critical response was mixed to negative. On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 40% Tomatometer from 110 reviews and a 27% Popcornmeter score from more than 500 audience ratings; the site's critics consensus says it "hints at a genuinely creepy experience, but never quite manages to distill its intriguing ingredients into a consistently satisfying whole."[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/you_should_have_left) Reviewers frequently compared it to *The Shining*, noting the unstable husband, the daylight horror, and even a rotting woman in a bathtub.[5](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review-you-should-have-left-prizes-narrative-efficiency-over-personality/) Slant Magazine criticized Koepp for prizing narrative efficiency over personality, while crediting Bacon with an admirable feat of underacting.[5](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review-you-should-have-left-prizes-narrative-efficiency-over-personality/) Screen's review found interesting ideas in the adaptation of the best-selling German novel but judged the execution formulaic.[9](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/you-should-have-left-review/5150815.article) The RogerEbert.com review noted that it marked Bacon's first film role since 2016 and reunited him with Koepp.[10](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/you-should-have-left-movie-review-2020)
## References
1. [You Should Have Left, Universal Pictures At Home](https://www.universalpicturesathome.com/movies/you-should-have-left)
2. [You Should Have Left, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/you_should_have_left)
3. [You Should Have Left by Daniel Kehlmann, review, Publishers Weekly](https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781101871928)
4. [You Should Have Left credits, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/you-should-have-left/credits/)
5. [Review: You Should Have Left Prizes Narrative Efficiency Over Personality, Slant Magazine](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review-you-should-have-left-prizes-narrative-efficiency-over-personality/)
6. [Nothing is what it seems in taut and twisty horror film You Should Have Left, Ars Technica](https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/06/a-spooky-house-forces-kevin-bacon-to-face-his-demons-in-you-should-have-left/)
7. [You Should Have Left, review, Kirkus Reviews](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/daniel-kehlmann/you-should-have-left/)
8. [Interview: You Should Have Left Director David Koepp, Vital Thrills](https://www.vitalthrills.com/interview-you-should-have-left-director-david-koepp/)
9. [You Should Have Left: Review, Screen Daily](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/you-should-have-left-review/5150815.article)
10. [You Should Have Left movie review, RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/you-should-have-left-movie-review-2020)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Horror films (individual works) › Psychological horror films › Psychological horror films, 2010s and later*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license