clever storytelling for a horror film

Rating: 7/10 (2 July 2018)

Greetings again from the darkness. I will forever carry this flame of hope for quality horror films since they were such a part of my childhood movie watching. It's such an odd genre because the really good ones are quite rare, but the category in general is quite profitable. We enjoy being frightened and stressed ... in the safety of a dark movie theatre with a few dozen fellow movie goers. This debut feature film from writer/director Ari Aster is filled with foreboding and dread - key elements to a successful horror film.
The clever filmmaker spends the first portion of the movie tricking/manipulating us into thinking this is going to be a "normal" ghost story - one we've seen before, albeit with a stronger than usual cast. Time and again I found myself thinking "this poor family". Toni Collette plays Annie, mother of son Peter (Alex Wolff, brother to Nat and son of Polly Draper) and daughter Charlie (Milly Shapiro), and wife of Steve (Gabriel Byrne). Some scenes are loaded with realistic family banter - the kind that's a bit passive-aggressive and judgmental in tone. This adds to the unsettling mood of dread that cloaks most of the characters and most every scene.
Annie is an artist who creates miniature settings, and once she unloads her family history on an unsuspecting group therapy session, we are provided a big clue, as well as confirmation that the bad times aren't over. When tragedy strikes again, the family seems beyond repair, as do the individuals. Peter is a seemingly normal teenage boy who likes to smoke weed, and dutifully lets his little (and slightly disturbed) sister Charlie tag along to a party since his mother asked. Ms. Shapiro is a revolution in the role - somehow simultaneously both creepy and sympathetic. Father and husband Steve is very patient, a trait that rarely pays off in horror films.
The family house makes for a terrific setting, especially considering the impressive treehouse that seems to always require a space heater. Ms. Collette fully commits to the role with all its grief and terror. It's really her performance combined with a creative story that harkens back to THE EXORCIST and ROSEMARY'S BABY, that allow the film to click. By the end, this family only wishes they were in a "normal" ghost story. And as a reminder, if you are born into a family where one member has a sleep-walking incident similar to what's described here, you have every right to lock your door before going to sleep - that is, assuming you could ever sleep again.