Seance Games: Metaxu (2024) by Jane McClure


Director: Jane McClure
Year: 2024
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Possession

Plot:
Participating in a viral challenge, a group of influencers arrive at a remote house in the middle of nowhere to undergo a special livestream challenge performing a specific seance, but when they release the spirit of a figure trapped inside must try to get out of the house alive.

Review:

This was a decent enough if somewhat flawed genre effort. Among the better features here is the impressive setup that plays quite nicely into modern influencer culture with how they get into the game and how it takes place. The arrival at the house and meeting up with the secondary group that’s also attempting the same thing offers the kind of worthwhile starting point based quite nicely on how typical youth in this style start behaving. With a rather creepy, mold-covered house that has the traditional unused-for-years look and aesthetic that tends to play perfectly for the type of challenge being attempted here, it serves the film perfectly with the actual seance that takes place here as this sets the final half on a wild path once the group starts to succumb to the ghostly figures in the house. That’s where the film works the best as the paranoia on display and wild revelations that come about during a series of brutal-by-comparison sequences give the film some positives.

There are some big issues present that bring this one down overall. The biggest drawback with the film is the utterly uninteresting group of characters we’re forced to follow as the typical means of modern youth and their actions are brought to full force here. The usual assortment of antics here involving the group being completely inconsiderate and only thinking of their followers despite what would be scenarios that demand more attention to their surroundings or sympathy for others is on display throughout here as the group spends the majority of the first half going through their follower numbers than anything more endearing which makes the group difficult to deal with. As well, once the film does finally get going and the bodies start dropping it’s done without much in the way of thrilling sequences or intense confrontations so it’s hard to care at this point in the film where it’s getting going. It’s the main thing holding this one down among its other factors.


Overview: */5
It is a flawed and underwhelming genre effort with some decent ideas, but there’s not enough present to overcome the series of flaws that are quite prominent throughout here and hold it down the most. Viewers who appreciate this genre fare or are curious about it while most others should heed caution in favor of other entries instead.

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