Director: David S. Hogan
Year: 2021
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Supernatural
Plot:
Haunted by the death of her husband, a woman and her daughter move to a small town for a fresh start to their lives but as they spend time getting adjusted find themselves targeted by a strange nun which invites them into a supernatural conspiracy and consults a local priest to help them solve it.
Review:
Overall, this one was rather decent at what it set out to be. A lot of what works overall here is the strong first half that manages to employ a fairly realistic portrayal of grief and loss that is what sets this one in motion. Bringing about the initial sequences of the husbands’ death and how that’s treated her, from the memories of their lives together to the arrival at the school and the daughters’ struggles to fit in and find friends all coming together as a clear sign of her deteriorating mental state and grasp on reality to come.
When this one turns into the featured genre thrills, it has a lot to like as well. The slow-building mystery over the town involving the revelation about the mysterious nun and the various figures around her involved in the strange hallucinations taking them into a rather chilling and complex mystery.to be solved. Given the series of random clues that are initially set up here involving the imaginary friend, the hulking janitor, and the ghostly visions of the nun walking around, putting everything together here is a rather enjoyable time as it leads into the finale where it comes together to resolve the mystery into a decent enough time here. These here are what hold this one up for the most part.
There are a few flaws found in this one. The main issue to be had here is the main lack of action that holds the pacing of the film down considerably, especially in the first half. While it commendable works well to establish their personal problems and setups throughout here, the fact that nothing overtly horrific happens is a bit of a struggle to get through. The pacing tends to be more in league with a drama-heavy approach that doesn’t really offer up a lot of extra excitement to generate some action or confrontations throughout here.
As well, there’s a slight problem with the lackluster finale that crops up here which has some issues. The main one is the overall rushed and rapid-fire presentation of the action, saving this grandiose battle between good and evil in a matter of fewer than ten minutes running time. Considering the storyline factors here involving the quest to solve the mystery about these beings, a big battle involving the fate between the two should’ve occurred yet it just goes by so quickly that it makes for an anticlimactic feel and a question over whether the villain was as big of a threat as it was. However, these are really all that hold this one back.
Overview: ***/5
Featuring enough to really like at points here while still getting some drawbacks along the way as well, this is still an enjoyable enough effort that it’s worthwhile enough if not an overall essential effort. Give it a look if you’re a fan of these kinds of supernatural efforts or intrigued by this kind of film, while most others might be slightly turned off and should heed caution.
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