After taking a commission to investigate the hometown roots of a dying patriarch, a documentary-maker believes she can intuit the dark truth and capture it on film
Muddled horror that assumes a few different shapes and replaces the heroine with an unconvincing character. The basic shape is of a curse from the unquiet grave, but then we shift into a confused divide between real and unreal through the heroine's camera lens, before moving to a cult ritual scenario. And all along there is the under-powered symbol of a bottle of water. None of the shapes is coherent, and the story adds up to less than the sum of those parts.
The camera work uses a majestic location to good effect - but I have the sense the location was convenient to supply a substance that the story lacks. You can actually take an online virtual tour of the place and come away with the impression, Yeah - just like in the movie. There's a definite vibe of The Shining, but also of The Grand Budapest Hotel through a comic concierge whose role in the story fizzles out along with the promise of insight from the cult festival gathering.
The performances don't come across as true, but I feel that's down to the script rather than the actors. The lead often seems bemused, and the other two principal actors stumble with underdeveloped characters. The editing only highlights the heavy, inarticulate dialogue, as the lead repeats the name Josiah one more time. And, in the end, we're forced to switch horses, since the heroine has no answers for us. The music maintains unease with scratchy, moaning strings - the most impressive part of the production.
It's hard to pigeon-hole this effort, but it has a nihilistic feel of a masculine world where there is no hope and violence is the only way of getting by. A retread, I suppose, of original sin leading to a vale of tears. Religious in the least helpful way.
Overall: Naff and unenlightening.
Muddled horror that assumes a few different shapes and replaces the heroine with an unconvincing character. The basic shape is of a curse from the unquiet grave, but then we shift into a confused divide between real and unreal through the heroine's camera lens, before moving to a cult ritual scenario. And all along there is the under-powered symbol of a bottle of water. None of the shapes is coherent, and the story adds up to less than the sum of those parts.
The camera work uses a majestic location to good effect - but I have the sense the location was convenient to supply a substance that the story lacks. You can actually take an online virtual tour of the place and come away with the impression, Yeah - just like in the movie. There's a definite vibe of The Shining, but also of The Grand Budapest Hotel through a comic concierge whose role in the story fizzles out along with the promise of insight from the cult festival gathering.
The performances don't come across as true, but I feel that's down to the script rather than the actors. The lead often seems bemused, and the other two principal actors stumble with underdeveloped characters. The editing only highlights the heavy, inarticulate dialogue, as the lead repeats the name Josiah one more time. And, in the end, we're forced to switch horses, since the heroine has no answers for us. The music maintains unease with scratchy, moaning strings - the most impressive part of the production.
It's hard to pigeon-hole this effort, but it has a nihilistic feel of a masculine world where there is no hope and violence is the only way of getting by. A retread, I suppose, of original sin leading to a vale of tears. Religious in the least helpful way.
Overall: Naff and unenlightening.