Hidden beneath the surface of what appears to be just another haunted family horror is actually a fresh, metaphorical, and emotionally layered film. This thought-provoking thriller tackles trauma, shame, grief, & abuse from childhood to adulthood and even though I was a tad underwhelmed with its ending at the time, the emotional outpouring was intense enough to make a lasting impact on me in retrospect. Overall, Transference is a very emotionally deep psychological thriller that shines a light on the most heinous secrets and shadowy corners of a family’s home.

Camille (Lauren Buglioli), her husband, son, and daughter attend the funeral reception of Camille’s estranged father. While wandering around in the attic Camille’s daughter finds her mom’s old doll, Piper, and a dollhouse which they take with them upon leaving. Soon after, Camille’s daughter begins talking about Piper like she’s real which alarms her father and frustrates Camille. Overworked and having recently lost a therapy patient to suicide, Camille hits a breaking point as inner demons manifest via hauntings until she must finally put the memories fueling them to rest.

After a montage of creepy imagery over credits and a prominently featured dollhouse at the beginning lead me to believe I was in for a supernatural doll or haunted house feature, somewhere around the third act it’s clear Transference is a different kind of haunt. It’s the kind that creates an everyday hell for someone plagued by memories causing demons to manifest themselves into reality. Lauren Buglioli as protagonist Camille portrays the full-circle journey of going to hell and back very well, her expressions and demeanor in perfect tune to convey the effects of losing herself to memories of horrific childhood events. Where other films addressing child sexual abuse–such as Precious (2009) or The Tale (2018)–are often hard-hitting dramas, director Aditya J. Patwardhan sets up his story as a psychological thriller that’s not exactly scary despite the jump scares and eerie music, but certainly becomes horrific due to its uncomfortable premise.

It’s been a while since I genuinely screamed during a movie (usually I can see a jump scare from a mile away) but Patwardhan expertly waxes and wanes tension, hiding jump scares within deceptively unassuming scenes. It helps that Transference is filled with interesting camera styles–sometimes a Dutch angle to denote psychological turmoil, other times a POV stalking the family which gives an eerie and creepy vibe of an outsider looming over. At all times the framing feels up close and personal and along with the child sexual abuse narrative there’s a distinct feeling of discomfort I felt throughout the film.

Parts of this felt influenced by recent horror prodigy Ari Aster’s Hereditary (2018) with the dollhouse, an initial emphasis on miniatures, and the unstable family dynamic but thankfully Transference breaks away from being traditional horror. Instead, it finishes as an emotional drama driving home a message of facing demons to find life through healing going so far as including the definition of child abuse and the child abuse hotline phone number. Though not as scary, draining, or emotionally heavy as Hereditary, director Aditya J. Patwardhan and writer Nicole Cannon take a bold approach to a delicate subject with Transference (now available on Amazon Prime) and it truly pays off.

6.5 out of 10