'The Vigil': To Believe or Not to Believe?
If you mix religious rituals with dark mythology, the result will be effective, and the story powerful in 90% of the cases. That is exactly what happens at the beginning of The Vigil.

The camera breathlessly traverses landscapes and whirls into abstraction, all the while eye-ing fanciful foreground objects of domestic life doing their own dizzy dervish choreography, until the hand of the artist reveals the true scale. Just out of camera view are Aaron’s hand-made rigs that guide the dynamic movement.
If you mix religious rituals with dark mythology, the result will be effective, and the story powerful in 90% of the cases. That is exactly what happens at the beginning of The Vigil.
As this critic continues to look back at some of this Summer's films I have taken in, I would be remiss if I didn't mention one of the most overall unsettling trends in Hollywood over the last several years.....sequels, reboots, and remakes. Look, I am all for seeing more than one film for certain originals that made a splash, ie: "Jurassic Park", "Pirates of the Caribbean", "Transformers", etc.
Izzy and Prince Thomas learn that taking control of their own destiny requires following their hearts and making their own decisions.
Emily Henry’s adaptation reaches romance movie standards, but not romance reader standards.
The Force Awakens is A New Hope 2.0, in essence. The story structure is virtually unchanged, marking a safe opening to the new trilogy.
American Fiction is a genuinely entertaining film with a few lessons.