Director: Andy Mitton
Year: 2022
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Supernatural
Plot:
Desperate to leave her quarantined life, a woman jumps at the chance to visit a friend away from the safety of her family to help her deal with a series of troubling nightmares, but the longer they stay together the more she realizes her friend is haunted by an entity now targeting her.
Review:
This was a rather fun if somewhat problematic genre effort. One of the better elements here is the influx of topical material making for a strong commentary on the current climate. Focusing heavily on the various interactions some have way too many touches to real-life scenarios involving facial protection, social distancing, fear of germs permeating from the outside, and the general sense of loneliness that comes from being away from family and loved ones for extended periods, this part of the film is incredibly touching and rather enjoyable. It's quite intriguing to have this kind of setup that plays quite heavily on these topics while also building up this relationship between the two in this kind of environment which is a great touch with the overall setup present providing a great groundwork for the genre thrills to come later on.
That becomes the other enjoyable facet of the film as the series of dreams and nightmares here becomes quite genuinely chilling. Employing a kind of nightmare logic to its scenes as the hypnotic nature of what's happening in concept plays out equally as adeptly as the visuals being created, the eeriness created here is enough to realistically drive the right person over the edge like it does here. Including a huge demonic figure in the shape of a deformed bird-like creature perfectly suited to this kind of environment helps to provide the last half with a solid mystery involving its origins and intentions of it. Sending them off on a quest to discover the truth behind what's happening to them and getting more than they bargained for, this is all highly enjoyable and effective to provide quite a lot to like about it.
There are some minor issues present but they're not big issues. The main issue here is that the films' topicality might not be the most immersive, which will get too many people involved. Rather than be something light and easy for people to get invested in, that this one goes for a heavy-handed approach regarding how the pandemic is affecting people and the various subjects around the concepts at play here which really leave this one to be at ease with something that others might not want to be reminded of. As well, there's not a lot to like with the finale at play here which is quite familiar and highly unoriginal as it's quite obvious to see where it's going from the very start. That it never really deviates from this setup and just plunges into that feels quite underwhelming being so predictable, which is what brings this down.
Overview: ****/5
An intriguing and enjoyable topical genre effort, there's far more to like here than anything else as the few flaws tend to be far more personal preference than anything else to do with the film proper. Those who are intrigued with the concept or are willing to go along with this kind of genre effort will have quite a lot to like here while most others that are tired of the concepts at play should heed caution with this one.
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