Writer and director Zach Koepp has approached The Willowbrook, his first film, in some style; the bar’s set high for impressive results with producer Jeffrey Reddick (creator of the Final Destination franchise) on board. The synopsis is promising; successful social media influencer/healer Lacey Willowbrook (Jessica Bishop) invites follower Jordan (Erin Day), who’s recently been overdoing it on the partying front, to her manor house retreat for a spot of healing. However, far from the impression portrayed on the internet, the reality is, as is so often the case, another story.

Upon arrival at the house, Jordan’s introduced to Lacey’s brothers Adam (Christian Olivo) and Syd (Mar Sudac), as well as her longtime boyfriend Dakota (Chris Boudreaux). Adam’s cheerily reminiscent at first of Joey from Friends, an earnest aspiring drummer who practises on an assortment of upturned crockery. Syd by contrast is a pale bundle of nerves who spends the entire film looking like he’s about to vomit, whilst Dakota’s role is that of the gun-toting, outdoorsy (yet mysterious) type. Lacey herself seems efficient yet benevolent (albeit with an unsettlingly penetrating gaze and rather sharklike smile).

Preceding this, The Willowbrook begins with a young woman in satiny pyjamas, stumbling barefoot and wild-haired through snow deep enough to render escape from any pursuer problematic. As with any intro that piques the curiosity, I watched on and waited for the plot to thicken. I’d like to be able to say that’s what happened, but when I was an hour into a film that’s just under an hour and a quarter long, it was somewhat disappointing to realise that any plot-thickening that was going to happen already had and time had run out for anything within edge-of-the-seat territory to develop.

This isn’t to say that The Willowbrook isn’t well-made or without merit; it’s professional-looking, and filmed in a beautiful, fittingly remote setting. The problem, however, lies in the fact that for a movie that devotes such commendable time and effort to creating an atmosphere of tension and mystery, it all amounts to very little, and what is revealed is more than a touch muddled. I actually watched it three times to make sure it wasn’t just me being a dumbass who didn’t get some hidden meaning or had missed something, but I still wasn’t sure of exactly what was going on when it began to build towards a conclusion of sorts.

Thankfully, my job as a reviewer isn’t to analyse a film and figure out what’s behind every convolution, but I doubt I’m alone in welcoming even a vague notion of what’s going down, as opposed to feeling like the new kid in class at the start of their first day. Apart from Adam, the characters aren’t the type most would warm to, however their relationships with each other are intriguing, that of the brothers and Lacey particularly. They’re clearly scared of her in a manner that begs to be explained, but the eventual culmination of events feels skated over and rushed. That being said, all the actors do their job well (especially Sudac, whose rabbit-in-headlights persona is faultless), and the camerawork more than delivers. Overall The Willowbrook shows it is capable of being so much more than how it turns out, yet it’s still one I’d recommend; just don’t expect a finale that matches the buildup.

7 out of 10 Mysterious Mansions