Two cops investigate a crime scene at a silent, apparently empty house. At length, they find a lone survivor surrounded by bloody corpses. She’s brandishing a gun and threatening suicide till finally, shaking, crying and disorientated, she’s disarmed, arrested and subjected to the full Good Cop, Bad Cop interrogation.

So what, I hear you ask, led up to all this?

Dalton (Nic Wolfe) is a spoiled rich kid low on charm. Bent on proving it, he and his equally vacuous housemates play over-loud music, piss off their neighbour, yell angrily into their phones in public, and generally display a lack of intellect and respect for everything except themselves.

Distracted from a tantrum by the appearance of a mysterious new neighbour (her butt, specifically), Dalton’s attentions focus on her; Irene Good (April Hollingsworth), whose gothic vibes and claims of psychic ability elicit sneering disbelief from Dalton and BFF Sam. It takes the wind out of their sails somewhat when Irene details knowledge of Dalton’s brother’s death two years hence in an incident for which he still blames himself. Irene invites the pair and their friends over that evening, promising to reconnect Dalton with his brother. As she turns to leave, an ominous-looking tattooed symbol is revealed on her back.

Suspicious, Sam seeks information on this and Irene herself, discovering hereditary  connections to witchcraft, and a doomed route to an ancient evil. Despite dire warnings from both the chastising neighbour and local occult shop owner, the friends assemble at Chez Irene, blissfully unaware that what awaits is anything but the closure Dalton seeks.

All told, Prosper is a fairly well put-together film. The cast are a solid bunch and the acting, while not exactly Oscar-winning, does the job. The story however, even though following an already well-trodden path, doesn’t quite have its act together enough to totally avoid being confusing and predictable at the same time. It’s a challenge for any filmmaker to find a fresh angle on an exhausted theme; some little spark that marks it as different enough from the rest to make the viewer want to tell the world about it. Considering the fierce competition out there I can forgive this, especially given its highly professional sheen.

The second viewing I give to all my screeners untangled the story a bit, serving also to reinforce my initial impression of cinematography that’s spot on in its portrayal of the sinister, supernatural theme throughout. Even without reading an overview of this movie it’s clear what you’re there to see, though this is perhaps one of the things which makes it less than fantastic; no surprises, nothing unexpected, and a bit too much going on, needlessly over complicating it.

A deeper look into the backstories of the main characters in particular would have made for a more riveting watch, as well as tidied up some floaty loose ends; but then I’d have been moaning about the film being overlong and even more convoluted, plus there’d be far less chance of a sequel.

Come to think of it, I’d certainly be up for taking a look at one. With Dalton and Irene in particular there’s more than a few hints to suggest their fictional lives leading up to Prosper have been colourful; it does strike me as something of a shame to not find out the hidden shadows of Irene’s history, and possibly unravel the story of how Dalton became such an entitled brat; (though I suspect he may have been born that way, it’d still be interesting to find out).

Until then, Prosper isn’t a bad watch at all, (though I guarantee you’ll want to give Dalton a good slap).

5.5 out of 10 Rich Kids And Witches