There's quite a lot to unpack with this film... it's very beautiful in a way but has one of the most heartbreaking and haunting "twists" I've ever seen quite late in the movie. Considering the already very sad subject matter, this kind of comes off cruel to the viewer and makes it a difficult movie to recommend. More on that later...
This film reminds me of another less known film called "The Dust Factory" in that you spend most of the movie with characters who may or may not be alive, but not in any kind of "fun" horror movie way. And because of the unrelenting (if subtle) haunting nature of Dust Factory, I could never watch that film twice, and it's hard to watch this twice too.
What is the "twist" here that is so heartbreaking? That Jamie wasn't murdered as you are led to believe, but he actually committed suicide. Personally, I found this devastating like I'd actually known the kid, and haunting in that I did indeed think about this a lot afterward.
After the incredibly somber bulk of the movie, getting hit with that just seems way too much and makes me very hesitant recommending the movie. (I can hear it know, "there's an important message" which usually means it's a poorly made film and/or it's a preach fest. There a couple very minor preaches but the film doesn't really have those problems, it just goes way too far.)
Still, it is a very beautiful film in its bleak northern winter setting. The acting is great and Cameron Monaghan completely nails his role and seeing (I think) everything from his POV works well. His character Adam's family feels very real.
Some downsides: * Jamie looks ridiculously like Harry Potter and this is non-stop distracting in a supernatural setting.
* The Frances ghost character almost derails the movie and feels like should have been either built out a lot more or cut to a creepy cameo. You definitely FEEL like the movie is derailing.
* What's with the deer? A reviewer noted a possible symbolic meaning for it which is interesting, but that tends to get lost when every time it shows up you're wondering if it's real and they killed it for the movie.
This film reminds me of another less known film called "The Dust Factory" in that you spend most of the movie with characters who may or may not be alive, but not in any kind of "fun" horror movie way. And because of the unrelenting (if subtle) haunting nature of Dust Factory, I could never watch that film twice, and it's hard to watch this twice too.
What is the "twist" here that is so heartbreaking? That Jamie wasn't murdered as you are led to believe, but he actually committed suicide. Personally, I found this devastating like I'd actually known the kid, and haunting in that I did indeed think about this a lot afterward.
After the incredibly somber bulk of the movie, getting hit with that just seems way too much and makes me very hesitant recommending the movie. (I can hear it know, "there's an important message" which usually means it's a poorly made film and/or it's a preach fest. There a couple very minor preaches but the film doesn't really have those problems, it just goes way too far.)
Still, it is a very beautiful film in its bleak northern winter setting. The acting is great and Cameron Monaghan completely nails his role and seeing (I think) everything from his POV works well. His character Adam's family feels very real.
Some downsides: * Jamie looks ridiculously like Harry Potter and this is non-stop distracting in a supernatural setting.
* The Frances ghost character almost derails the movie and feels like should have been either built out a lot more or cut to a creepy cameo. You definitely FEEL like the movie is derailing.
* What's with the deer? A reviewer noted a possible symbolic meaning for it which is interesting, but that tends to get lost when every time it shows up you're wondering if it's real and they killed it for the movie.
