When a young girl bursts through the door of the clairvoyants, Cynthia (Ashley Greene) and her daughter Jordan (Ellie O’Brien), trying to escape from a powerful spirit feeding on her, they meet their worst nightmare, despite protests from the girl’s father, Randall (Shawn Ashmore). If they get drawn into a fight against this evil force can they get out alive?
Written and Directed by fellow Canadian Chad Archibald. It was filmed on location in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. That’s about an hour away from Niagara Falls and an hour and a half away from Toronto. The film is being released by the Canadian distributor Black Fawn Distribution.
The story is structured at a brisk pace. While the plot never dips into the mundane it sacrifices context about who or what the entity is. Little information is given about character backstories too. While I don’t like massive exposition dumps I do appreciate some relative information about the characters involved.
I love how the cinematography is done. The film has a high production value. I love the sound design, too, for the most part. However, it’s too reliant on jump scares. It contains the kind of jump scares that are a pet peeve of mine. It gets extremely quiet before an obnoxiously loud musical cue. That doesn’t illicit fear, it just startles people because the music is blaring. It’s a cheap trick but this is counterbalanced by genuine scenes of dread. Some shots start by focusing on a character, the camera pans around the room, and suddenly, the creature is right behind someone. Not to attack, just lurking or the creature slowly emerges from the darkness behind someone with no music. Archibald succeeds in creating an atmospheric tone of dread in these moments because the dread is earned through the old Hitchcock adage about suspense versus surprise. This film pushes the suspension of disbelief though, because the characters don’t make the smartest decisions. This tired old horror cliche happens time after time, unfortunately.
The story goes in the expected directions depicting truly terrifying situations like being buried alive or losing your child. It’s not a gory movie, but the practical effects for the creature makeup look impressive.
The entire cast exhibits exceptional acting. Ashley Greene is Cynthia. She’s good at being believable as a mother willing to do whatever it takes to save her daughter. Ellie O’Brien is Jordan. She is good at convincingly playing a strong yet naive young woman desperate to help people. Shawn Ashmore is Randall. It’s fun seeing him play against type in a villainous role. Juno Rinaldi is Agatha. Shayelin Martin plays Riley, the afflicted girl in question. She’s fantastic as a tortured soul in dire need of assistance. She’s great as the comic relief. Brooklyn Marshall and Sara Garcia play The Creature. Their impressive practical effects makeup enhance their frightening portrayals of the evil entity.
Overall, this is a fresh take on a classic creature feature tale. Is it formulaic and predictable while simultaneously lacking pertinent information about characters? Absolutely. Is it an entertaining cinematic experience? Indubitably. Sometimes plot contrivances can be overlooked if the film is a fun, fast-paced, good time. The atmospheric tone is infectious, the acting is hypnotic, and the cinematography is stylishly designed. It reminds me of Smile (2022), It Follows (2014), Hereditary (2018), and Insidious (2010). ,And remember, it’s bad if you’re startled, it’s worse if you’re afraid.
