Director: Ryan Glover
Year: 2020
Country: Canada
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Supernatural
Plot:
Trying to continue her career, a young musician rents out a remote house in the wilderness to hone her songwriting craft, but the longer she stays there she comes to believe there’s a malevolent supernatural force living in the house that doesn’t want her there and tries to find out what it wants to get away alive.
Review:
Overall, this one was a rather solid if troubled effort. When this one works best is the rather enjoyable setup that gets her out to the house and lets the atmosphere there take over. With the early introduction giving us a glimpse of her efforts towards the musical endeavors and the desire for solitude to complete her compositions, stumbling upon the remote house in the middle of the countryside and using the isolation to craft her skills is a fine endeavor that allows the film to move into the haunting atmosphere quite well. The howling winds, freezing desolate landscapes, and complete silence since she’s the only person in the area manage to combine together into an effective atmospheric touch which is quite well appreciated here as the sequences of her setting up the place to be furnished and livable space offering up a fine start to things.
From there, the film generates a lot to like with the addition of the supernatural into the proceedings which are quite fun. The first stages to this, with the discovery in the photograph and a dark figure spotted in the background of a video taken when she’s unaware of its presence, are subtle enough clues that something’s going on and starting to affect her psychologically. The later stages, where it shows up around the house and is not really interacting but more looking over her to the point where it's become far more psychologically destructive about her music and career as well as the relationship she's trying to salvage are fine enough as well at continuing this effect, but once her friend becomes involved and under its influence, this one picks back up again to have a chilling enough climax to be mildly enjoyable overall.
There are some problems to be had with this one. The main drawback to the film is the agonizingly slow and dreary pacing that keeps the film from ever generating any kind of momentum or excitement for anything. It’s almost as lethargic as the atmosphere here where there’s no energy at all for anything that happens, whether it’s the scenes arriving at the house, taking in the local landscapes, or even just the scenes of her and the photographer getting together which are all in the same tempo and setup that it all just comes off with a similar sense of disinterest. As well, this also manages the other feat of making the films’ genre qualities come off so deep in the second act that it’s very possible to have checked out from lack of interest long before it gets there since it never gives off hints or any other kind of notice that the film will become one with the way it builds up. These issues are what cause this one to hold itself down overall.
Overview: **.5/5
While it’s serviceable enough to be entertaining when it wants to be, the fact that so much of its positives are drowned out by a lethargic tempo and lack of real genre qualities for so much time leading up to these features might be cause for concern. Those that appreciate this kind of slow-burn psychologically-driven supernatural effort will like this one but most others who are turned off by this kind of feature should heed major caution.
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