Gush (2025) by Scott Schirmer and Brian K. Williams

Director: Scott Schirmer, Brian K. Williams

Year: 2025

Country: USA

Alternate Titles: N/A

Genre: Supernatural

Plot:

Following a traumatic accident, a woman and her husband arrive at a remote house to try reconnecting and help get her writing back on track, but when she starts to befriend a mysterious woman around the house is drawn into a surge of inspiration that questions her life.

Review:

This was a really effective effort that has a lot to like about it. Among the better elements here is the wholly impressive starting point where the film creates a startlingly sympathetic portrayal of the main character we’re following. Given the heartbreaking backstory about losing her baby in a car accident and having it affect her marriage to the point of preventing her from being intimate with her husband so they suggest a trip out to the house to help heal and reconnect, only for him to be called away on business and leaving her alone at the time when she needs it the most, is a great method or making her someone endearing and empathize with. Seeing how she tries to settle not just her husband’s desires while he’s there but the frazzled mental state she suffers from while alone, involving her stifling writer’s block trying to come up with a new horror project, but the other bits of everyday maintenance that distract and disrupt her chances at healing make this come together in a fun opening setup.

Once she’s visited by the mysterious woman and starts to become erotically linked to her, the shift into a darker tone offers up a wholly likable attempt at bringing the different tones together into a solid genre outing. With the first encounters proving to be more mysterious than anything, with the woman’s unkempt appearance and unpredictable behavior being equally unnerving, there’s a certain unease to be felt that makes the eventual softening and seduction feel quite earned. The silence, eerie body contortions, and muse-like qualities spark not just her writing but also the desire for closure in her relationship when it starts to become apparent how much everything is being influenced to run a specific way regarding the symbolism of who the mysterious figure really is and what she’s doing in the woman’s life.

That starts the film off on an impressive beat involving the fill reveal about how they both feel about the incident that split the marriage apart. Bringing in the extreme emotional impact of this event and seeing how everything is all leading to the exploration of themselves as a completely different take on the muse story, where this one offers up her being more enticed by the mysterious muse to access that connection she’s been missing. How it all works out is a bit awkward with the whole experience pointing to a succubus-like relationship with the muse rather than staying with her husband, especially with his extramarital affair being a major sticking point, so that the finale is a bit more symbolic than expected, but it’s not generally a major drawback here compared to the far more likable positive features.

Overview: ****.5/5

An exceptionally enjoyable and creative genre effort, this one manages to generate quite a lot of fantastic points and not too many flaws, which end up making this a strong outing overall. Those with an appreciation for this kind of genre fare, who are curious about it, or who are fans of the creative crew, will have the most to like here, while most others out there should heed caution.