Director: Aislinn Clark
Year: 2018
Country: Ireland
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Supernatural
Plot:
Sent to a small parish in Ireland, a group of filmmakers from the Vatican are asked to check out a series of claims about unnatural action from one of the statues there, but when they stumble upon a deadly conspiracy involving one of the women there must find the truth and stop it.
Review:
This was a rather impressive overall genre effort. One of the best efforts with this one is a wholly enjoyable setup that serves well enough to bring this one into a worthwhile commentary on the history of Irish laundries. Pulling from real-life history about the type of institutions set throughout Ireland in the past, especially involving the type of women that were initially taken to such locations as it was usually involving problematic people that the Church wasn’t fond of having in public with out-of-wedlock pregnancies, prostitutes, flirtatious women or just other generally unwanted people, the historical nature of what happened to the victims in the past being paralleled in the film allows for a fantastic examination into hidden secrets within the Church. The whole idea of the film doing away with the reason for the pair to arrive since they abandon investigating the statues to look into the treatment that takes place eventually exposing a genuinely gruesome and horrific secret about what has been deliberately taken place under the Church’s approval and sends everyone into a discovery about the true nature of human evil, especially as this one goes along.
Following up on this fantastic setup, the idea of integrating a fun series of hauntings and other encounters throughout here. The initial idea of the locality being haunted features some really impressive scenes here where the found-footage format brings everyone up-close and personal with the cliched-but-still-enjoyable type of hauntings such as child-like giggling and laughing while an unseen figure is known to be running around them or the discovery of Satanic symbols which disappear moments later when others arrive to investigate. This series of harmless spooks and chills offers a fine way to get an effectively eerie atmosphere in play before the main section of the film plays out featuring the treatment of the pregnant individual about to give birth who displays all sorts of possessed behavior hinting that something is involved in her condition as the film goes along. As well, there’s also a lot of fun action in the final half where the proposed birth leads into a series of fun encounters and confrontations that have some great ideas in play, giving the film quite a lot to like about it.
There isn’t much to dislike here but it does have some detrimental factors. The main feature here is the use of some unfortunate series of cliches that are featured throughout here that make the film follow a lot of similar rules of the genre. Despite the main storyline being ripped from the headlines of the area and taking a historical approach, way too much of what happens here resorts to creepy voices whispering in the ether, creepy nuns, an underground cavern setting featuring skeletons of dead children littering the ground, and strange beings rushing to the camera for a jump-scare out of the darkness. It’s all pretty familiar material and doesn’t do as much to separate itself from the pack as it does, as well as the other issue here where the finale does somewhat hinder the possibility of the footage being shot and recovered as it does end on a condition that doesn’t make sense how it got collected. These here are the few factors that hold it back.
Overview: ****/5
A generally spectacular Irish found-footage genre effort, there's so much to like here with only a few minor drawbacks that keep it back from the upper echelons of the genre. Those who appreciate found-footage films in general, are intrigued by the concept, or are fans of the content within will have a lot to like here while only those who aren't into these factors should heed caution.
Comments
Post a Comment