Paulson is a captivating actor and expertly ratchets up the tension and deploys raw emotion to give the story some oomph but she's unable to make sense of the derivative frequently boring script. Ebon Moss-Bachrach makes an appearance as a mysterious drifter, and he's great, but he's underused and is called upon essentially to be a MacGuffin. Amiah Miller and Alona Jane Robbins as Margaret's daughters are both good but are hamstrung by the necessities of the plot.
For a low budget indie the movie looks good, the ambiance is there, its evocative. The sound design with the wind and dust whirling, the creaking floor boards, its effective. But at the center is one of the worst and unfortunately most well trodden horror tropes - is the threat it in the characters head or is it supernatural- and the movie ultimately falls firmly in the less interesting of those two options rendering the story, character development, and good performances essentially meaningless. The ultimate 'reveal' deflates any real stakes or investment we the audience have. Ever since the, just, smash success of The Babadook there have been many copycats and this is one of those but without the nuance, depth, or genuine terror.
Written as part of Sundance Institute Writer's Lab it very much feels like an exercise in selling a screenplay not creating a compelling narrative.
Currently streaming on Hulu.
Don't See It.
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