The Atoning, starring Michael LaCour,  Virginia Newcomb and  Cannon Bosarge  is a slow burn ghost story from writer/director  Michael Williams that lacks personality, but makes up some ground with energetic pacing and a couple of standout performances. The film follows a couple, Vera (Newcomb) and Ray (LaCour), and their son, Sam (Bosarge), who has been having visions of ghosts in his bedroom. These visions seem to be putting the family through a lot of stress, or at least that’s the picture we’re given immediately, but as a more clear picture of the family’s dynamic emerges, it becomes clear that there is a sense of distance and unease that permeates every interaction they have with one another.

This proves to be the film’s greatest source of both intrigue and frustration. On the one hand we get a relatable, if predictable performance from Bosarge, who emanates levity and optimism through his strained relationship with his parents and Newcomb’s understated portrayal of Vera, the earnest and loving mother striving to pierce the fog that seems to keep these characters from ever truly connecting. On the other, we have LaCour who serves as the wet blanket that burdens much of the film’s first and second act, wallowing in his misery with a lack of conviction that stifles the ability to relate or sympathize with him. His character does develop with time, but at that point most of the film’s 90 minutes have elapsed and it seems rushed to craft something out of what it had up to that point convinced me was nothing.

The Atoning isn’t a dull film per se, it moves through its various twists and turns at a brisk pace, but it’s the sort of narrative so concerned with playing its cards close to its chest that in keeping the viewer guessing as to what new insight might be revealed around the next bend it loses the ability to use these insights to flesh out its characters until the plot demands more fuel. Like a meal rationed out in a hundred tiny courses, in the end I was left mostly satisfied but unconvinced that so many contrivances were necessary to keep my attention, especially given that many of the film’s surprises aren’t particularly novel.

The visuals are simple, but they get the job done. There isn’t anything too adventurous in terms of camerawork, but there is effective use of close-ups and fake out shots to sustain the level of suspense that this sort of film requires to remain compelling. We’ve all seen these sorts of shots before, but they work, and outside of a couple of cheap jump scares, the film largely succeeds in creating a sense of foreboding, bolstered by a score that uses a mix of wistful piano, sharp strings, and synths to craft different textures depending upon the tone of the scene. All of the effects are practical as far as I could tell and while they are certainly low budget, they aren’t distracting and preferable to cheap CG.

If you’ve never met a Paranormal Activity you didn’t like, The Atoning might be able to scratch your ghostly itch, but it is not without its frustrations and fans of the genre will certainly have seen most of what it has to offer done better in other films.