A promising premise that didn't deliver.
From a technical pov, I believe the movie was really well shot and directed, with some nice cinematography. The cinematography enhanced the setting of the terrifying woods creating a tense atmosphere. The use of light and darkness for suspense was quite clever and I founf myself holding my breath in specific scenes.
Unfortunately when it comes to the plot, the movie feels quite flat, unoriginal and repetitive. While the initial setting was promising, and I certainly appreciate the effort to make the characters tridimensional and highlight their emotional bond. The acting is pretty good, Zoe Kazan and Ella Ballentine certainly have chemistry on screen, which made their mother-daugther relationship very real. However, the movie falls apart on its way to the third act.
I don't feel like the movie exploited the symbolism as much as it could, so much wasted potential, it did end up falling in a lot of horror clichés.
Would I recommend it? I don't know, if you're looking for a good family drama-horror mix, with all its problems The Babdook is far more satisfying in most aspects.
From a technical pov, I believe the movie was really well shot and directed, with some nice cinematography. The cinematography enhanced the setting of the terrifying woods creating a tense atmosphere. The use of light and darkness for suspense was quite clever and I founf myself holding my breath in specific scenes.
Unfortunately when it comes to the plot, the movie feels quite flat, unoriginal and repetitive. While the initial setting was promising, and I certainly appreciate the effort to make the characters tridimensional and highlight their emotional bond. The acting is pretty good, Zoe Kazan and Ella Ballentine certainly have chemistry on screen, which made their mother-daugther relationship very real. However, the movie falls apart on its way to the third act.
I don't feel like the movie exploited the symbolism as much as it could, so much wasted potential, it did end up falling in a lot of horror clichés.
Would I recommend it? I don't know, if you're looking for a good family drama-horror mix, with all its problems The Babdook is far more satisfying in most aspects.
