Director: Jesse Holland and Andy Mitton
Year: 2017
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Supernatural
Plot:
Following a traumatic car accident, a young man obsessed with death and the afterlife sets out on a quest to find definitive proof of such concepts only to come across a far more dangerous companion than he expected and finds himself haunted by a mysterious supernatural entity that he must stop.
Review:
This here was a decent enough if highly flawed effort. When this one works, it does a rather enjoyable job of providing a rather enjoyable setup which is quite fun to see play out. The wholly unique premise at the heart of the film is rather enjoyable, taking a more physical approach to the afterlife than most would assume as there's plenty of work done in that regard. From the exploration of the lifestyle to how we see him weeding out the different participants that answered his ad and what he does earnestly trying to ensure that he's overcoming his phobias and various conditions, this sets out to explore a far more intriguing concept of the way we approach death that's explored rather nicely here as it gives this a strong balance to the rest of the film.
Once this gives way to the supernatural haunting of the main hero, this picks up nicely and becomes quite enjoyable. Regardless of the outcome it offers, the encounter at the school is quite chilling from the darkened setting to the rather chilling tactics he must overcome before we get to the final resolution, while the film's continuous sequences of the ghostly figure following him around from the funeral to the scenes at his apartment with his mother that eventual play quite a large part of the middle section of the film. Following the stellar discovery sequence of the body in the apartment with the filth and decay left behind, this creates a rather intriguing and somewhat chilling section of the film to go along quite nicely with the more enhanced tempo and pacing within here, giving this a lot to like overall.
However, none of these are really enough to overcome the main overriding flaw in here which is the sheer rapidity with which we're dropped into this story. It takes us less than five minutes to get the central storyline out in the open with the release of the ad and the following solicitation of the responders which is basically just too extreme to get a handle on anything. There's nothing released by then to help us get acclimated to his situation or condition, and with the rather unconventional nature of the storyline throughout here doing this would've made a far easier transition to those more outlandish elements featured here.
Moreover, the film has a truly abrupt and somewhat disappointing finale that's rather jolting for the most part. Rather than build on the fine supernatural themes and the impact of death which has been rather fun to observe overall here for the most part, this drops all pretense of those and settles for a series of mundane realistic elements that don't have any real impact at all due to how it's all dropped from the overall storyline. Rather than bringing the ghost into the fray and have the resolution through that, this utilizes a secondary character introduced minutes earlier which feels tacked on and completely at odds with the rest of the film. Otherwise, there's not much else to this one.
Overview: ***/5
While it does get a few minor, mild problematic areas that are enough to hold it back somewhat, there's still plenty to like here that does raise it up. Give this one a shot if you're at all intrigued by the positives or fans of the creative side of the film, while those that aren't swayed by these issues should heed caution with the film.
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