The Offering (2022) User Reviews

The Vigil of Jane Doe

[Howling_at_the_Moon_Reviews · 6/10 · 19 April 2023]

This really was your average, run of the mill horror flick. Reminded me of a mix between "The Vigil" and "The Autopsy of Jane Doe". Not as good as either of those... but still successful to a degree in its own right.

I would say where this lacked the most would be in originality. The movie looked great - beautiful shots, lighting and atmosphere...the script was good, the acting was solid, the pacing was decent/kept you engaged, and yet still... it just wasn't all that enthralling.

Entertaining? Yes. It just didn't excite me all too much. Not to mention it relied a lot on jump scares. I think if they had chilled on those and focused on making it authentically creepier, finessed the storyline a bit by attempting to infuse some originality into it with less cliche horror tropes I think that would have helped immensely.

But again, this was still entertaining, just don't go into it expecting to see a modern day cinematic horror masterpiece. It's a fun, casual watch. I give this a 5.5 rounding up to a 6. Would recommend.

The potential of the script could have been exploited much more, but the end result is good.

[jp_91 · 6/10 · 11 May 2023]

"The Offering" offers a not-so-original but effective script told from a Jewish perspective. The cast gives well accomplished performances and the director's job is well done. One of the great merits of this production is its cinematography that generates a gloomy atmosphere by making the most of the filming locations. One notorious flaw is the CGI special effects that turn out to be fake in several scenes. The demon's design is very good, although in some scenes it ends up being distorted with digital touch-ups. "The Offering" is not a masterpiece, nor is it a lousy production, it is a decent film that achieves its purpose of entertaining.

A generic premise, an average scare

[valemas · 5/10 · 15 January 2023]

I knew when I sat down to watch this, that I wasn't in for a masterpiece.

That being said, I was still left a bit disappointed with how reliant on (predictable) jump scares and the classic "eery soundtrack" this movie was.

At times it felt like a knock off of The Conjuring movies, with judaic lore sprinkled in to give it a semblance of originality.

If the characters had been more developed and they had been less indulgence on generic tropes, it might have been a movie worth rewatching.

All that being said, it wasn't a bad movie either. The special effects are well done, and the set design is above average. I also enjoyed the attention to detail in some scenes.

If you like possession films I think you'll enjoy this one!

As it stands it's an okay movie to watch at home in the couch with a large bowl of popcorn, and maybe some hot sauce to bring the spice this piece is lacking.

What happened?

[jordanhaney-89041 · 3/10 · 18 January 2023]

I thought this would be a cool mix of The Autopsy of Jane Doe and The Vigil, but this movie completely missed the marked. This wasn't even half as good as either of those films.

Let's start with the pros:

Good lead actors.

Some parts of the soundtrack were creepy and unnerving.

Now the cons:

Every cliche scare you could think of, from someone getting dragged off somewhere, to something nonterrifying suddenly appearing with a loud sound effect is in attendance.

This film seemed to have little driving force, no character development or any plot whatsoever. If you asked me what the plot was I couldn't tell you without effort.

MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD.

You would think that the plot is going to revolve around the main character's relationship with his father, who is easily the most likeable character in the film. That is quickly thrown out the window.

The plot itself seems to jump out the window as well about half way through.

I can't even tell you the main characters name and I just finished watching this film not even twenty minutes ago. There was nothing likeable or noteworthy about him.

The demon is shown about half way through the film and you never stop seeing it once you do. The monster is 2007 CGI from Beowulf and it lost all impact after the first time it was seen.

This film wasn't remotely scary. The ending was clear about half way through, and what a terrible ending it was. Watch The Autopsy of Jane Doe or The Vigil instead if you want a film that actually knows what makes a movie terrifying or the least bit interesting.

Great work from the cast though. These few stars belong to you.

The concept had a lot of potential

[julyymoon · 6/10 · 16 April 2023]

The plot was not properly explained, the backstory was not clear either. It's like watching a snippet of the end of a different movie, it just started and then it ended. I don't know what happened or why it happened. But that doesn't mean I didn't watch it til end. The horror was good it had the potential to be scary. Not a fan of jump-scares though, and this one had far too many. The concept itself I think was unique, but showing the demon as a scary monster in a well lit room did not make it as scary as it could've been. Regardless, it was a nice watch 5.2 is a little lower, it was not that bad.

Columbo of horror

[davidwalker-94471 · 4/10 · 12 April 2023]

This isn't terrible but it's a bit like a columbo movie. The opening scene shows you what's going on and takes away all the mystery and intrigue.

I thought that was interesting and I wondered where they were going to go with it. I didn't wonder very long.

Predictable jump scares, very little suspense and an all too tropey characters including a personal bug-bear of mine; that one guy who just knows exactly what's going on and can expertly explain it all, in detail to our protagonist.

I like two things about this movie. Almost the whole movie is inside the house which gives the movie what little atmosphere there is, and I like the ending. Not the climax, not the third act, just the very end. That's about all though.

Dark, brooding and creepy...

[paul_haakonsen · 7/10 · 12 March 2023]

I have to admit that I wasn't really harboring much of any expectations or hopes for this 2022 horror movie titled "The Offering", simply because the movie somewhat was reeking of being a generic horror movie. Yet, as I hadn't already seen this horror movie, of course I opted to give the movie the benefit of the doubt.

And color me impressed. Writers Hank Hoffman and Jonathan Yunger really put together an enjoyable and entertaining storyline and script for director Oliver Park to bring to life on the screen. Sure, there were generic elements to the storyline, of course there were, but as a whole then I have to say that "The Offering" was a surprisingly good horror movie.

The story revolves around Hebrew folklore, and that is something I am unfamiliar with. So how true "The Offering" was to the actual myth and folklore, I do not know. But the movie made for a good old fashioned enjoyable horror movie experience.

The acting performances in "The Offering" were good. I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble, but there were a familiar face or two making an appearance on the screen. The actors and actresses in the movie put on good and convincing performances and carried the movie quite well.

Visually then "The Offering" was good. There was a good use of brooding, dark atmosphere throughout the movie, which was something that really paid off. And the CGI in the movie was good. I really liked the design of the demonic entity. So thumbs up to the CGI department working on "The Offering".

If you enjoy a good old fashioned horror movie with a demonic entity theme, then you should sit down and watch "The Offering". I was genuinely entertained by the movie, and it is a movie that I warmly recommend.

My rating of "The Offering" lands on a seven out of ten stars.

Unimpressive and non scary

[johannes2000-1 · 3/10 · 18 March 2023]

I was not impressed. The premise has potential (an ancient Jewish-kabbalistic demon is on the loose within an orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn and turns on innocent people), and the setting in an old town-house with in the basement a mortuary is atmospheric and pleasantly creepy, but that's about it. The as horrific intended effects only come from several noise-burst-induced jump-scares and creaking doors, it's not enough to make this into a satisfying horror-flick.

The story is complicated, for instance the nature and intentions of the demon are unfathomable (it was apparently summoned to bring a dead loved-one back to life, but for some reason it now kills people and even feeds on children), and the CGI of the demon itself is hardly scary, it has the surprising form of a giant moose or deer with big antlers. The constant apparition of a ghost in the form of a little girl is rather cliché, and towards the end, when the main characters have some kind of climactic show-down with te demon, things get rather repetitive and in spite of all the turmoil even tiresome. The acting of Emily Wiseman is fine, but Nick Blood goes way over the top, with his constant wide-eyed horror-filled gazes or sinking into baffled stupors.

Mostly scary....

[elhonig-902-129896 · 7/10 · 30 April 2023]

The first 10 minutes and the last 20 minutes are mostly scary. In between are some jump scares, along with telling a story. The story is about a demon stalking various people and creating havoc. There is the context of Hasidic culture and spine tingling scary mythology. I thought much of the story contained too much filler, and could have been cut quite a bit. The acting of the main characters played by Nick Blood and Emily Wiseman was fair, but not fantastic. CGI could have been more clear, but it was ok. Overall atmosphere in the film was adequate and added to the scariness. I think many people will be appropriately frightened.

Offering of many clichés and other well-known moments from better horror films.

[movieman6-413-929510 · 2/10 · 13 December 2022]

The Offering is a new horror movie from Oliver Park, the director of A Night of Horror: Nightmare Radio.

In the film, Art (Nick Blood) and his pregnant wife Claire (Emily Wiseman) go to visit his Orthodox Jewish father Saul (Allan Corduner) after fifteen years. Saul lives above a morgue where a new corpse is just brought in. This is corpse possessed by the demon Abyzou, who mainly drools children and babies.

Claire and her baby are in danger of being possessed by this demon. If Art and his father have worked through their differences together, they have a better chance of protecting Claire and her baby.

Director Oliver Park is more known in the movie world as an actor, but he does everything besides acting to do more in the movie world like directing. Unfortunately, for his second film, he chose to collaborate with aspiring writers. Unfortunately, this is against the lesser quality and lack of originality of the story in the lost film. This film is quickly reminiscent of a lesser mix between the films The Autopsy of Jane Doe from 2016 and The Possession from 2012. Both films are themselves energetic, creative and contain better acting.

The horror elements in The Offering remain on the simple side and jump scares are often used. Most then lead to moments when the sound slowly decreases and becomes difficult to play again at the end. After the umpteenth time, this becomes more irritating because of the loud noises than it is really scary. Furthermore, the jump scares are also on the predictable side at a time, so you don't really get scared anymore. The visual effects aren't always spread out either. They sometimes work in dark scenes where you cannot immediately see that you are watching something in CGI, but in overexposed scenes this is clearly noticeable. For example, the fire in the film is clearly placed in the film with CGI.

Also, thanks to the lesser script, the film's actors don't get much detail to work with. The characters begin the familiar horror clichés and often make illogical, stupid decisions. Thus, they only cause additional unnecessary problems in the film. Because of this lesser disc work, as a viewer you don't really care about the characters and you almost hope that after the biggest cliché Abyzou just catches them.

Better than the 5.2 it has of time of review

[sacdalysimon · 8/10 · 23 January 2023]

I dont understand the low score , i throughly enjoyed this and so did my wife, it is a bit old school in its vibe which i liked and the effects were ok for what it is, plenty or folke lore, Demon stuff, pentagrams and creepy children.

Every thing is a bit dark and moody so that might put a few off, some reviews i've read say it cliched and has telegraphed jumped scares but there are only so many times you can do a Demon/posession movie without comparing to hundreds of others that came before , saying that i thought it was fresh and the mortuary back drop added to the discomfort and creepyness.

A deep, mystical rollercoaster ride

[LarryBeard77 · 8 November 2022]

Saw this film at an early screening, was really surprised to find en emotionally charged studio horror film w a lot of heart wrapped in barbed wire. This film makes you scream out loud, cry at certain moments, and even laugh. The end packs a sick twist and I'm very curious to see how horror fans dissect it. There were a couple moments that perhaps leaned a bit too hard on jumpscares but overall you can really feel the genuine love and care from its filmmakers. I wasn't going to leave a review but after the q&a I realized this film is much deeper than i realized and so wanted to pay my respects. Special mention to Game of Throne's Paul Kaye who just killed it!

Jewish Esoteric Horror

[Pairic · 7/10 · 7 May 2023]

The Offering: Jewish esoteric and Kabbalah horror film set among a Hassidic Jewish community in Brooklyn. An old man has been engaged with the darker paths of Jewish Mysticism, trying to contact his dead wife, unwittingly he summons up a demon but seals it in his body through suicide and an amulet. A prodigal son returns to his undertaker father and through greed and ineptitude sets the demon loose. Some good representations of the demon both as a child and a horrific monster but not just those, it is a trickster taking on many forms. Really disturbing in places, with the demon levitating people and killing them. Always ensure that your summoning circle is unbroken, The film is mostly shot in a dim home/funeral parlour with it's morgue underground. The building itself is a star in the narrative. Directed by Oliver Park and written by Hank Hoffman. 7/10.

Awful

[mitchellconnie-74058 · 2/10 · 5 March 2023]

I thought the idea was pretty creative but my god the CGI was beyond. And I'm not gonna lie why did they make the demon a crippled goat like I was expecting Madame Satan not a musty crusty mountain goat and the black mist was not great either. The demon was supposed to be Abyzou which is a female demon that takes children but they just made her a goat. I thought that the plot was good and it had a lot of potential with the ancient demon theme but again the CGI was really bad and the way that it played out was bad. One last thing when the lady was floating in the window for like half a century and screaming it was very funny but other than that bad film don't watch.

Reviews are bought, movie is a waste of time.

[gabriel_exi · 1/10 · 13 February 2023]

Don't waste your time, or money. The jumpscare are worst than 90's movie. It's all about the screaming and loud noises.

The story is terrible, bad actors and characters doing bad decisions, like always.

You feel like the male "main character" should die just at the beginning for being so stupd and there's no char development.

If you think this is scary, then any movie is. Wth, the entity looks like it was made for a commercial, the little girl shown in the poster is ridiculous, not scary at all.

I can't believe I wasted my money. I felt like walking away from the cinema after 30min. But I endured.. for nothing. The ending is bland just as the whole movie is. It's those kind of movies you say "don't do that you dumbass".. and there he goes. He's done it. Welp.

The directors thought about the ending "oh there's always this ending in movies, let's just do the opposite" and it's meaningless.

There's no explanation, the little information is feels like it's just a excuse to make a f-movie.. more like f-with my money.

small horror

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 19 May 2023]

An elderly Hasidic man battles a demon, the taker of children. He kills himself and traps the demon in his amulet. Arthur (Nick Blood) brings his pregnant wife Claire (Emily Wiseman) home to reconcile with his estranged religious father Saul (Allan Corduner) who operates a Jewish funeral home. The dead Hasidic man's body is brought in. Arthur accidentally breaks the amulet and releases the demon.

It's a small horror. It's a bit slow. The scares are not that many although I really like a few of them. I really like the camera bit with Claire. The monster designs are pretty good. I do like the religious aspect. I don't like Arthur although I'm not suppose to. At the end of the day, the movie lacks scale or daring. It stays small and not that shocking.

The most ridiculous horror I've ever seen

[zeionara · 4/10 · 5 February 2023]

There is an expression in Russian "Skazochnyi dolboeb", which means "Fabulous idiot". This expression is used to characterize a person with a highest degree of stupidity. After watching the movie, I assure that this expression concisely describes the main character, which hasn't done a single smart move during the whole movie.

The other characters are bleak and underdeveloped. They appear and get lost in random moments so it's hard to follow the thread of directors idea. The plot itself is quite simple and unpretentious - it doesn't even manage to solve a task of killing some time because everything happens in one location and is very boring.

Screamers are everywhere. Every single moment of silence is literally followed by a screamer. Sometimes the sound becomes too strident so it is pain to watch the movie in headphones.

As a result, this picture is bad as a parody to a horror movie and as a horror movie itself. Its a shame that such horror movies are produced, if I were the director I would consider conceiving something more original and entertaining for the next work.

IFC / RLJE type of horror film

[slooppaulb · 7/10 · 26 February 2023]

If you like old school horror, not for you, if you like films like the sixth sense or The Cellar or Anything for Jackson. Then watch.

Personally I enjoyed it. Demons & tricks and family subplot... well It's great just watch the heading says it all It's just watch the heading says it all.

It's great just watch the heading says it all It's just watch the heading says it all.

It's great just watch the heading says it all It's just watch the heading says it all.

It's great just watch the heading says it all It's great just watch the heading says it all It's just watch the heading says it all..

Generic

[bertrandma · 5/10 · 29 January 2023]

An utterly generic skeleton (Near-Eastern poltergeist, Victorian house, first encounter with spouse's family, etc.) dressed up with a little Jewish folklore. Sets and costumes are decent, and the acting seems OK. But it is ill served by poor writing, resulting in a cast of either clueless (the prego wife, the dad) or detestable (the son and his brother), poor rhythm and a great many visual clichés. To make maximum room for their mediocre creature and its run-of-the-mill jump scares, the few original ideas are left unexploited: the set, a Hasidic funeral parlour, is largely reduced to its mortuary basement, and the rich Jewish folklore only yield here generic pentagrams and shiny crystal necklaces.

Finally a good story &nd al little Thriller effect

[adani-61434 · 7/10 · 5 January 2023]

This is the first film in a long time with a deep story. It incorporates traditional storylines so that marrying an infidel and the modernization of Jewish culture. This I think is a big plus. Such storylines are rare in this type of movies. Furthermore, there is also emotion at the death of the father after which it becomes clear that the document was signed after all. The thriller-like moments with tension building are also much appreciated. This too is often missed in nowadays horror films. The normal abrupt ending of horror films nowadays was also very much unlike this one. It is often the case that there are still 100 questions left open about certain roles at the end of the film that 99 times out of 100 just ends badly. The endings of all the parts in this movie were clear. The appearance of the demon in this film was below par though. This is also the only flaw I have to note about this film anno 2022. Perhaps a good recommendation would have been to use the dead man in the woman's dream as a further demon appearance as well. I see an opening for part two.

Absolutely horrific

[skylacraig-28735 · 4/10 · 28 January 2023]

The description brings the viewer's false hope this film is terrible urgent need of character development and the plot needs to be explained in a lot more detail and the idea of the whole spirit/demon thing needs to be explained. At the beginning the film came up with an descriptive quote on the spirit that says it's a women when in fact it's actually a deer looking thing that has long hair terrible idea of a female villain. The Jewish speaking men brought in the whole idea of religion demons but could hardly hear it understand what they were saying and to put subtitles on to actually watch it.

Solid Horror Film Around Ritual Mythology and Ritual

[Reviews_of_the_Dead · 8/10 · 1 February 2023]

This is a movie that I didn't know much about. I saw that it was playing at the Gateway Film Center and that it was horror. That was enough for me to make a point to go to the theater to check this out. It also made an interesting pairing on Journey with a Cinephile: A Horror Movie Podcast as a 2023 release. I've also given it a rewatch as this is now streaming on Hulu.

Synopsis: a family struggling with loss finds themselves at the mercy of an ancient demon trying to destroy them from the inside.

We start this at the house of Yosille (Anton Trendafilov). Background information is that his wife passed away. He did a ritual to see her and this causes Sarah Scheindal (Sofia Weldon) to visit him. He is trying to do a binding ritual, but it kills him in the end.

The movie then shifts over to Arthur (Nick Blood) and his wife Claire (Emily Wiseman) as they go to visit his father, Saul (Allan Corduner). Tensions are high from the last time they visited. The reason is that Claire isn't Jewish. Art has distanced himself from the faith as well. They are there as Art needs his father to sign a document so he can use his house as collateral in a business deal. Art is struggling at work and he's hiding this from his wife.

Things are much different than they were expecting. Saul has relented since the last visit. He is elated to see them. Part of it is that Claire is carrying his first grandchild. Saul's friend and co-worker of Heimish (Paul Kaye) isn't as happy. He doesn't trust Art.

I should also point out that Saul runs a funeral home. It is done in the basement and front room of his house. It is focuses on the Jewish faith as that is the community Saul lives in. Yosille is brought in and Art agrees to help his dad. Saul gets pulled away by Heimish so Art starts. He finds a knife in the man's chest and an odd stone around his neck. Art removes the knife and pendant. He drops the latter though. It cracks. He is worried so he slides it down a drain. Saul returns and notices the knife. It makes him concerned with the markings on it. He thanks Art and has him go to bed.

The worry causes Saul to reach out to an expert on Jewish lore, Levi Siegelman (Jonathan Yunger). He runs a bookstore from what I'm gathering. Saul relays what he knows and Levi puts his fears to ease. The older man doesn't know about the stone though. Levi tells him to not worry about a demon inhabiting the body. They just cannot burn it as that will release the entity.

Supernatural things start to happen from here. Art and Claire both see things. Saul encounters something much worse. This entity does what it can to get free and entice this young couple. We also learn one other thing about the demon, it is the taker of children.

That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is that I did a quick search on the name of the demon which is Abyzou and it seems to be real. I love this idea. I'm a sucker for mythology, especially when it is something that I don't know about. Apparently, this isn't the first movie that features this creature. The Possession from 2012 features this, but it is referred to as a dybbuk. Slender Man also briefly shows it. This is a female demon normally that is blamed for miscarriages or infant mortality. That should give an idea here what it wants. As a new parent, it was effective.

Then going from this, I think that is works having built in mythology. The movie also introduces the information that you need to know, if you're unfamiliar with the entity coming in. It then is just the imagery. I love the look of the entity. They go CGI with it, but I'm not sure doing it practically would help anything. The form they use is in line with our idea of Satan. It is a goat-like creature. They also hide it where we see parts of it and it doesn't linger too long. I'll give credit to the cinematography here as well.

With what they set up here, there is a human story between Art, Saul and Claire. It isn't a complicated one and it doesn't have to be. Heimish believes that Art is there for a reason. He's not wrong, but I do also believe that Art is there for his father. He wants him to be a part of his soon to be granddaughter's life. Art just has an ulterior motive as well. I believe how they progress this story is good. It also adds to it when something happens to Saul. That gives Heimish a reason to be mad.

I believe that next I should go over to the acting. They are solid across the board. Blood is good as this guy who is proud and wants to get back on his feet. He has a plan, but it is out of his control. That makes him seem shady and works in the framework. Wiseman is good as his wife. I like what they do with her as she finally befriends Saul. Corduner is solid there. I liked Kaye as his friend. He is a bit of a jerk. He is doing that though as he doesn't trust Art. Other than that, I liked Yunger, Trendafilov, Weldon and the rest of the cast as well.

There's not much more to go into, but there are just a couple things with the filmmaking. There aren't a lot in the way of practical effects. I've already said that the entity is done with CGI. There were other moments when it was used. Not all of it looked good, but none of it ruins the product either. I just prefer practical when it can be used. The other thing is the soundtrack. I love the chanting of prayers and different things there. That adds an element to this movie. The entity also is creepy in how it sounds and what it is able to do. That is also good.

In conclusion, this is a movie that I didn't know anything coming in aside from the title. This works for me with the exploration of this creature and use of a religion I'm not versed in. We get dark subject matter with this entity and what it needs. I thought that acting was good. This is well-made. They go CGI with the demon, but that's not a bad thing. There are effects that don't look great. Not enough to ruin this. I would say that this would make a great double feature with The Vigil. If you've seen that, I think you'll like this. I'd recommend giving this a viewing.

My Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

the price of error

[auct-eu · 7/10 · 4 April 2023]

There standard things and btw they are good enough. Actors did good and there were no boring sequences that last more than minute which is nice.

Overall the movie itself is a standard average mystic horror and the jump scares was predictive.

But there is something deep inside - deeply realistically.

I mean in most horror movies they either have happy ending for the latest or none of them.

But here dude made mistake and released bad spirit, then his girlfriend released spirit to physical.

And then he failed to follow simple rules how to end it.

This is what got me. Error in following simple rules can make big disaster for you and people around.

Predictably meh

[carolanthony · 5/10 · 25 March 2023]

The film is predictable most of the time and uses elements of Jewish culture in a decontextualized way. The demon's CGI is quite simple and doesn't have a lot of screen time, perhaps, to disguise the sloppy strokes. As for the story, it's a bit confusing and rushed, you can't expect much. As for the characters, Arthur is possibly the only one that stands out (for his idiocy, mainly); the others, although fulfilling their functions, are easily replaceable and end up being just a detail. And in the end, besides being frustrating, it's kind of funny, which for a horror movie doesn't make much sense. Anyway, I only watched it so I wouldn't see Ant-Man twice.

So bad..

[jimmycoffin-751-212853 · 1/10 · 2 May 2023]

Lazy filmmaking with horrendously bad cgi effects. That digital goat looks like s××× The little girl isn't scary at all. The monday all week stuff is just so incredible bad. The offering is Overbloated with horror tropes and terrible effects. The light effects in the morgue when the demon gets closer was the best part. It was actually pretty good until the horrid cgi post rendering trash was shown.

Ive seen 400 horror movies just this and last year alone and they pretty much all sucks. Why is horror movies today so incredibly lazy and bad?? Its the same movies over and over Again. Most horror movies are so bad its impossible to tell them apart. The possession, concecration, resurrection, the offering, the night house, the deep house, the crap house. The invitation, the shepherd, lullaby jeeez Who can tell even tell these b junk movies apart? Who mass produce all this crap and why? The movies doesn't fill any function, originality or any artistic direction whatsoever and is not worth collecting or watching a second time. So why even waste time making them?