A Good First Draft (Spoilers)

Rating: 7/10 (8 November 2019)

This was a very enjoyable movie. It is good for those getting into horror. For example, my wife has not traditionally been into horror but we watched this as an easing into it. There are three problems with the movie:
-no escape: at no point do any of the characters try to escape. they are slowly picked off one by one. normally this would be ominous and freak out the characters. In this movie, the characters are able to rationalize the disappearances all the way until the end. They don't realize something is wrong until way, way too late.
-unnecessary plot points: there is no need for Dani's parents to die. Even if there was, there is no need for such a long intro. The movie is already 2.5 hours long, and it feels almost like the only reason for the parent's death is to give the viewer a little bit of horror imagery to tide them over as we then transition to a peaceful mountain religious community that slowly builds towards horror. Additionally, the part about the stolen book never comes to fruition. This feels like it should've been a much bigger plot point. We know that none of the main characters stole the book. They're either all dead or sleeping at the time when it was stolen. Yet the movie spends a good 5-10 minutes beginning this plot point only to have it never resolved.
-the build towards horror never pays off: the movie feels slightly tense, like the moment before a roller coaster takes off down a slope. But that tension only pays off if there is a hurdling down a slope. Most character deaths happen off screen and we only see parts of their bodies. What one would expect from this movie is that after the instigating scene of Dani seeing Christian impregnating the redhead (Maja?) that we would take off on a whirlwind of madness and horror. Instead, we continue at the same slow pace until the end where Dani watches the bodies of her friends and boyfriend being burned as sacrifices. The blood eagle scene would've been perfect and after Christian ran out of the one building naked it seemed like we would be getting that descent into terror especially after seeing the blood eagle. Instead he's knocked out and the movie resumes it's slow pace.
That's a lot about the bad in the movie, but there's also several good parts.
-Unique setting
-Unique feel
-Amazing camerawork
-Intriguing plot
Overall, this is a good movie that had the potential to be a great movie if it weren't for a few small errors.