This current year, as well as the past several, has seen a slowly building increase in something the horror genre has required for quite a while in this critic’s opinion…originality. I’ve stated before that I am very hard to please when it comes to this vein of the film industry’s offerings, always leaning more towards that which sends chills through my very being in lieu of buckets of blood and gore. With this recently released effort from director Michael Shanks….SUCCESS!!
Delivering an atmosphere that is palpably tension-filled, at (brief!) times strangely comedic, ultimately unsettling, ominous, and unequivocally creepy, Shanks weaves a tale of relational stresses forming between a young couple Tim (Dave Franco) and Millie (Alison Brie) after a move to the country that’s meant to help their union only ends up serving to bring about an unearthly encounter that will drastically alter them, and ALL they are, in more ways than either would have ever expected….or wanted.
The beauty of how Shanks directs this effort is the slow burn (but not TOO slow) manner he executes the story in order to introduce us fully to the couple and their growing discontent before launching us into the circumstances which usher in the supernaturally and body horror-centric elements that, once present, just take over in the best of ways. There are some seriously jarring moments, effective jump scares, and the aforementioned, consistent aura of uneasiness that visually the film tackles masterfully.
Additionally, it is the sheer sense OF uniqueness that the film provides that makes it stand out. With the relatively recent film, 2024’s “The Substance“, promoting a new kind of age of body horror in particular, I felt it helps make those facets of this film fresh still. Again, the imagery for some truly disquieting sequences involving this aspect of events here are just, well, disquieting! The finale is likewise alarming, coming with separate reveals that certainly manage to cement the film’s intent in your mind quite solidly and unnervingly.
Honestly, the literal FINAL moment of the film is priceless and really made me want to know what happened in the next moments after it! However, that will have to remain in the realms of conjecture. There is no doubt here that Franco and Brie were the perfect pair to put in a narrative focused on a relationship, given that they are an actual couple in real like as well. It immediately makes the chemistry with their characters credible from the start, with no indication anything between them is forced emotion, but sincere and genuine.
Franco’s Tim is a nice guy who only wants what’s best for the duo, even though his own dreams related to music are being somewhat interrupted but still valid. Even as his relationship with Millie is beginning to fray, he still tries to make things right….until the catalyst that sends them into a waking nightmare begins to take an even greater toll. I appreciated Franco’s “everyman” quality here, as it only makes his confused descent into the madness more tangibly intense as the story proceeds.
Likewise, Brie’s charming but dissatisfied Millie exudes and reverberates with the ebbs and flows of a partnership in turmoil as she desperately attempts to find the resolution to the couple’s strife by moving them to the country to decompress and, ideally, reconnect. This, of course, runs into major hurdles in itself, but then gets amplified when things go south after their unfortunate encounter on a hike with a cave and the haunting realization that they’ve been affected by something sinister. Brie’s portrayal of both vulnerability and strength here is amazing.
A main supporting turn from excellent character actor Damon Harriman as a local teacher, Jamie, at Millie’s school, and the couple’s closest neighbor to boot, just oozes that “I just don’t trust this guy” vibes to a “T” and it serves both the character and story so well. So, in the grand scheme of horror films from 2025 so far, this one absolutely stands tall, well worth taking in, allowing its disconcerting ambiance and statements about the trials associated with figuring out relationships morphing into a genuinely spooky, macabre, terrifying affair.
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