People will naturally compare The Offering to The Autopsy of Jane Doe, and that’s fair, they both take place in a funeral parlor and involve a corpse that is possibly haunted or possessed. Like The Autopsy of Jane Doe, the movie takes place almost entirely in one location. But The Offering is definitively its own thing.

Young businessman Art Feinman (Nick Blood) brings his pregnant wife Claire (Emily Wiseman) to visit his Orthodox Jewish family in Brooklyn. His father Saul (Allan Corduner) and brother Heimish (Paul Kaye) greet them with some caution, alluding to past familial conflict. The family business is a Jewish funeral home, and Saul asks Art to help with an embalming of a local old man who had been dabbling with occult forces, particularly a demon known as “the taker of children.”

Things get hairy from there.

Let’s start with the family. As an outsider, I cannot speak to authenticity of the portrayal of Orthodox Judaism, but I will say it feels genuine. There are multiple people with different character traits so it doesn’t seem to be speaking for everyone. No one is all good or all bad, the non-practicing son isn’t shown as better or worse than his observant family. And the diabolism isn’t presented as the exotic mysticism of the “other.”

In a small-cast film like this, the quality of the acting is especially important, and this cast really excels. Art is earnest and slightly devious, Claire is timid and well-intended, Saul is warm and inviting and wise, Heimish is suspicious and aggressive. And upon meeting these people, the story isn’t given away. They are rich and varied characters who have their own growth arcs. You can’t tell who will survive from the start, as you can with some films.

The sound and cinematography are excellent, bringing us into the slightly claustrophobic but warm, cozy world of this family. The golden lighting and set design crowded with family tchotchke ground us in their reality. From the start Offering engages us in the family dynamics and would honestly be a great film if there were never a demon. It’s truly charming. Which makes the inevitable chaos of the supernatural attack all the more jarring for the viewer.

Both the writers and the director seem to be new to feature filmmaking, and I can hardly believe it. The Offering is so polished and smooth and well-made, I’d expect it to be the work of long-time veterans of the craft. These are definitely people to watch out for.

Ultimately, this is a satisfying film, well and lovingly made. I liked it so much I watched it twice. Unreservedly, this gets a 9 out of 10 from me.

9 out of 10 Kreplach