People Booed In The Theater After It Was Over

Rating: 5/10 (21 February 2016)

I'd never before in my life heard people in a movie theater boo after seeing a movie, until today. The place was packed, and people kept piling in after the trailers had started, so I thought perhaps the word-of-mouth was pretty good, and that it boded well for a positive movie-going experience. I'd heard it was slow going, which wasn't a problem, as sometimes, you need more time and measured pacing to set up a good story, but wasn't the issue at all.
It was like watching The Blair Witch all over again. An hour and a half of ridiculously overblown drama capped off by nothing happening until the last few minutes. At no point during the whole affair was I horrified, unsettled or disturbed by what I was seeing, nor was I impressed by what I was seeing on the screen. I admit to jumping once, after the father was gored by the goat, but honestly, much like the Spanish Inquisition, no one expects a goat to suddenly come at you.
It just seemed like such a waste. The acting was top notch, both the children and the adults, who all beautifully portrayed the severity of their situations. The cinematography was stark, yet gorgeous, and the premise alone was enticing enough to make me plunk down money for a ticket. But the metaphor of earthly woes being blamed on God's judgment/punishment and witchcraft fell absolutely flat, as did the drama of family turning on one another when the chips are down -even in this time period when superstition was high and such things were a common occurrence. By the end, the plot had made no sense and even when something finally "happened", the journey was not worth the destination.
After the round of booing and the lights had come up, as the audience piled out, I heard declarations of how stupid the movie was and how disappointed people were, and I couldn't have agreed with them more. What a complete and utter waste of what was, on its face, a compelling premise. It's rare for me to walk out of a movie theater feeling cheated of my money, but honestly, that's exactly what I felt.