Ir's been a while since I wrote anything resembling a mini-movie review, even though I have caught some really good ones. (Parasite and Dr. Sleep being an excellent examples.) Trapped inside as I have been this week and with a host of streaming at my fingertips, I watched this one on the recommendation of several people and was not dissappointed. (and it was a needed break from my rabid pandemic streak earlier this week.) It's a really pretty film for being horror, from the opening shots of the shabby chic dream/nightmare of a decaying house, to the way sets are arranged & composed. Also well shot for building horror and suspense. It's an excellent tale of adultery and toxic masculinity set within a haunted house framework. And just plain delightfully weird, from the weird marbles dropping from the ceiling, things constantly oozing & gushing, and the very Silent Hill-esque girl monster above. There are enough "eww...wtf?" moments of body horror to make you wince or slightly nauseated, a sign of killing it in the genre.
I also like that what seems to be the make characters story through most of the film, ends up being his wife's at the end, who endures the discovery moments and history of the house. The monsters and ghosts are not defeated or vanquished, but a lesson learned and peace made nonetheless, which creates a new horror in itself. It also falls up there in the vein of the sort of feminist horror I can't get enough of lately. (you can find it on Netflix.)
