A muddled execution undercuts laudable ambitions in the latest effort from director William Brent Bell, who previously demonstrated his talent for turning low-budget horror films into major commercial hits with such movies as The Devil Inside and The Boy. The filmmaker mines deeper emotional terrain than usual with Separation, which attempts to inject scares into a Kramer vs. Kramer-inspired scenario. But the film squanders its intriguing set-up and terrific performances by devolving into familiar genre tropes. Not that it will prevent horror-starved audiences from flocking to see it on the big screen thanks to the further lifting of pandemic restrictions.

The story revolves ...