a dumb and pretentious horror movie

Rating: 6/10 (23 October 2019)

It's nothing more than a stupid/shallow horror movie. The climax is quite well made and unnerving, but there aren't really any deeper themes or character analysis going on here. It really is just a stupid horror movie, but an incredibly pretentious one - the first half having literally nothing going on but mundane setup is completely unjustified because literally NOTHING is happening. I usually dislike this criticism because in most contexts it is falsely used, as in most movies people use that critique for are actually developing themes or studying characters. However, here it is entirely pointless. No deeper meaning, the characters are all one dimensional - though the lead actress does a good job. This movie being compared to others like the witch or it comes at night is utterly laughable, because those movies - while also slow - actually developed themes and analyzed characters. The slower moments also contributed to the general atmosphere of unease. Here, it's just an absolute stupid waste of time. There's little separating this movie from more "mainstream" ones like the conjuring besides the snobby "oh, we are so artful that we are above jump scares. Also, long stretches of nothing happening!" Could not have missed the point more. In films like it comes at night, those stretches were used in a meaningful way. Here it is just stupid.
Kind of predictable, saw the twist coming, kind of dumb and very pretentious because yes this is a shallow movie. There was absolutely no need for the stretches of nothing or to act as if this is some higher form of art. Had it not been for the good climax, I would definitely have rated lower.