Messengers
Tags: flashback

Plot synopsis:
The film starts with a terrified mother and her young son. As she packs a suitcase, she hears something coming towards the door and makes her son hide under the bed. The door bursts open and an unseen force throws the mother against the wall, killing her. The son flees and runs into his terrified sister. The boy hides under a table, but his sister is caught and pushed over the banister of the stairs, then dragged down to the cellar. The boy hides but is eventually found by the attacker.
Five years later, the Solomon family from Chicago moves into the house, near a small town in North Dakota. The father, Roy (Dylan McDermott), is hoping to start a sunflower farm. The teenage daughter, Jessica, called Jess, (Kristen Stewart), is upset about moving away from her friends. Some time ago, Jess had driven drunk with her younger brother, Ben, a toddler at the time. She crashed the car, seriously injuring Ben. He recovered from his injuries, but does not speak. Jess's mistake has caused a rift in the family, as her father and her mother, Denise (Penelope Ann Miller), have a hard time trusting her and they are broke now as they spent all their money for Ben's treatment.
Roy believes moving to the farm will help heal the family, but ominous events begin to occur. The house always has ravens flying around it. Some even attack Roy; but they're driven off by a drifter named John Burwell (John Corbett), whom Roy hires to work on the farm. Ben sees ghosts of the mother and the children, though they do not seem to frighten him. Jess is also aware of their presence but is unable to see them until they try to drag her down to the cellar. She calls 9-1-1 after the sister-ghost attacks her; but the police consider it a false alarm, having found nothing. Roy and Denise do not believe her either, and tensions arise between them and Jess. Ben witnessed the attack on Jess; but, still a toddler and mute, he is unable to confirm her story. Only Bobby, a boy from town whom Jess befriends, supports her.
Jess and Ben have more encounters with the ghosts haunting the house. Because her parents don't believe her, Jess becomes determined to prove her claim, and goes into a truck with Bobby to help. She discovers more about the Rollins family, the house's previous owners. According to the locals, the Rollins lived in the house, but left suddenly five years ago. But she believes that they didn't move, and that something terrible happened to them. While at a local store, Jess sees a newspaper clipping of the family, with the father revealed to be none other than John Burwell, who has always been kind to her. As it turns out, John is actually John Rollins, the man who, in a fit of madness, murdered his entire family, shown in the beginning of the film. Shocked, Jess rushes back to the house with Bobby to warn her family before it is too late.
Back at home, Denise sees the mother's ghost coming out of the wall with the blood stain, which she tried many times to wipe off but kept coming. Realizing Jess had been right, she becomes determined to leave. John is viciously attacked by the crows, and his mental state becomes unbalanced. He believes Denise is his first wife Mary, trying to leave him the same way the actual Mary had 5 years before. He attacks Denise, but she grabs Ben and hides in the cellar. Bobby and Jess arrive, but John knocks Bobby out with a pitchfork. Jess runs into the cellar and finds Denise and Ben. Denise apologizes to Jess for not believing her, and said that she saw one of the ghosts. John looks for them, believing that Jess is his daughter Lindsay, and Ben is his son Michael. Roy arrives but is stabbed by John. When John asks Jess, still thinking that she's Lindsay, that they're still family, the ghosts of John's slain family arise from endless bubbling mud. Jess ducks the pitchfork and kicks John into the mud, saying that her family isn't his, and the ghosts vengefully pull him down to join them. Jess, feeling it's safe, goes to check on her family, but John's hand rises from the mud and grabs Jess's foot, trying to pulling her down with him. However, Jess's parents work together to save their daughter and John is sucked in forever.
Thanks to Bobby, Officer Drew and paramedics arrive shortly after the attack. As Roy is loaded into the ambulance, he too apologizes to Jess. At the end, things have returned to normal. The ravens no longer attack, the ghosts stop appearing, and Ben starts talking again. The family is happy once more.

Review: What Are You?. Dr. Sarah Chapel (Michele Hicks) returns to the small town of Brighton Mills when her father Dr. Robert Chapel (Richard Bekins) unexpectedly dies. His clients and friends miss him, and Sarah discloses that all of them have perfect health; they hear voices when they are sleeping; and they are addicted in the stimulant Tributal. Her further investigation discloses a dark secret about the haunting voices."Messengers" is a weird and original movie, with an intriguing plot awfully resolved. Michele Hicks has a good performance in the role of a skeptical and logical doctor trying to disclose the mystery of the locals that never get sick or die and hear scary voices. Unfortunately the disappointing resolution is not convincing and spoils a promising sci-fi movie. My vote is six.Title (Brazil): "Mensageiros do Mal" ("Messengers of Evil"). Dark satire. I think the whole point of this film is to play with truth and fiction. It's full of 'winks' to the audience and that's what makes it great. The entire opening scene is pure comedy. The only reason to be angry is if you didn't get that from the beginning but if you see the characters and what they do, it should be obvious. You're not in normal sci-fi territory here and of course, if that is what you need then you will be disappointed. However, this film is designed to mess with that expectation and replace it with something more human and poignant. This film isn't supposed to be about alien existence, it is about human communication (hence- 'Messengers'). At that, it's unlike anything I've seen.. Amazing diamond in the rough. This film really deserves to be seen. I saw it at a festival in Oregon but never heard a word about it anywhere else. It's beautifully shot, has great cast, strong direction and an awesome score. I like films that play with genre but don't fall into any one and this film did just that. Maybe that's why nobody knew what to do with it. But the movie has a real unique mood and sensibility. It's funny but creepy , cheeky and totally deadpan. Yeah, it's a little slow at times and could have had a bit more action. Still, so m any low-budget films are cheesy and shlocky but this one is actually really well-directed and features some of the best acting in its class. I watch at least 5 films a week and this one definitely stood out in a good way.. Oh, c'mon... This movie is a joke!. I can't believe this movie is taken seriously. It's impossible. OK, there are two or three good performances, but... My God! The screenplay is ridiculous and you can clearly see it in the first ten minutes. After these ten minutes things get even worse. The direction is completely lost and inconsistent. The movie keeps disappointing the spectator every time something close to interesting happens in a way that frustrates anyone. The two last scenes - oh, boy! - are surreal and made me laugh out loud.The only thing I can think about to understand why this movie was produced and released is to take it as a big joke.