Super intense horror, but still not quite the masterpiece I expected

Rating: 7/10 (23 January 2019)

I watch a lot of horror movies, especially like ones with psychological drama and religious undertones. I'm not into blood and gore, that's not horror imo. That's not to say this movie didn't have it's graphic and bloody moments.
Well, there was a lot of talk about how good this movie is and to a certain extent I agree. It's super intense and well made, genuinely creepy and unsettling. But there was a lot that did not quite work. I'm all for movies that require thinking, but to me it feels like this movie expects viewer to make a bit too many conclusions based on clues and even if they seem logical after explaining, they really are not. There is also a lot of "supernatural" stuff, which is handy for script continuity and creepy factor, but doesn't help making "logical" conclusions easier. It's not exactly complicated movie, but to assume that pretty much everything we saw was pre-planned and happened for a reason is quite a lot to put together on a single seating.
For example I very well noticed the symbol on the pole by the road, but why make one part of the "summoning" so super complicated and insanely random, other than just for the sake of making a shocking and unexpected scene.
I like the fact that it wasn't just mental illness in the end this time, but I feel Annies (Toni Collette) character was somewhat off. Or maybe it was the fact that even tho Annie played like the lead, she didn't play a huge part when it comes to the story. Other than being the unwanted daughter. Peter (Alex Wolff) on the other hand wasn't as big a part of the story as he eventually ended up being. His looks were also very misleading as he didn't quite seem to fit the same "hereditary". Steve (Gabriel Byrne) was basically just a bystander and had no purpose other than being "the sane one". Charlie (Millie Shapiro) was an interesting character, but very much under used.
Seemingly good, but quite unbalanced as a whole.