Saltburn (2023) (Contains Possible Spoilers)

 

Much heralded film concerns Oliver, a poor young man at Oxford who becomes friends with Felix, a rich young man who invites him home to his family's estate for the summer, where things happen.

Beautifully acted, and magnificently crafted, SALTBURN is a must see for anyone who loves the craft of movies. It is a gloriously made film that I suspect is going to be in the running for a lot of technical awards.

The problem for me is that the films plot is very deliberately constructed and I never truly warned to it.

Blame the fact that I kept feeling the hand of writer director Emerald Fennell moving everyone around. It was the same sensation I had with her earlier film PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN. It also didn't help that Fennell's script wants to be tricky sort pf Patricia Highsmith story, with Oliver being her version of Tom Ripley.  However where Highsmith was very forward about the sociopath Ripley, Fennell hides it and the shock of the reveal is supposed to carry us to the end. I suppose it worked for some, but for me it left me feeling disappointed since Oliver is less compelling as a villain. (Also thematically seems to be saying the poor are shits and not to be trusted-which is fine if you want to believe that despite recent examples set by the uber rich- but I digress)

Is SALTBURN bad? No it's, actually kind of entertaining. How you feel is going to be entirely determined as whether you know Tom Ripley, and who you like better.

The Activated Man (2023) Dances With Films 2023

THE ACTIVATED MAN is about a man dealing with the grief of losing his best friend as well as his dog. He suddenly finds that he is being hunted by a mysterious figure known as the Fedora Man.

I'm not sure what I think of this film. One part horror film, one part self-help film, it never gets the balance quite right. The film lifts riffs from any number of mysterious stalker films (Freddy, Candy Man, ect) and mixes them with notions of self-help. The solution to being something to do with finding inner strength. Apologies if I'm not entirely forth coming but I kind of drifted off.

While not bad, the film is more superficially interesting (it looks good, has a great cast and has a couple of good ideas), the reality is film lifts too much from other places from other places and doesn't dress them up enough to seem new.

Worth a look for horror fans.

ASTRAKAN (2022)

This is the story of Samuel who is taken in by a foster family. They have taken him in because doing so gives them extra money. Samuel is a broken child. His mother is gone to an uncertain fate and his father was killed by the police. He is prone to violent outbursts. There are some bright spots, such as the girl next door who seems attracted to him. But things are not always smooth and there is no certainty for the stoic young man.

An allegorical and at times cold tale ASTRAKAN is a tough film to love. It's a film that dwells in the same cruel world of Todd Solondz's films. While I like the characters and the craft, the narrative is at times much too obtuse for its own good. For example, there is little sense of any time frame. The film is also very coy about what happens at times. Things are not said for a chunk of the film and then in a ten-minute sequence set to classical music at the end of the film fills in some details. It’s a sequence that in some ways I liked and in others I didn’t because we didn’t need to know some of what we are shown.(we didn’t need to have the abuse more concretely spelled out).

While exceedingly well made and beautifully acted I never fully warmed to the film. To me the film was trying too hard to be about something with the result it never felt alive.

Worth a look for the craft but expect to be chilled.

Failure! (2023) FrightFest 2023

Ted Raimi is at the cross roads. His company, started by his late father if floundering. The bank wants its money and people don’t want him to sell. What is he to do? Can he do it in an hour?

Raimi gives a tour de force in the story of a man in crisis. As people and phantoms come and goes Raimi has to try and keep himself upright and in control. It’s an impressive piece of acting that should get him some awards at years end.

The film itself is a mixed bag. The problem here is the script which is almost a stage play. It a one room one take film that seems like it would be more at home on the stage. Honestly I would have accepted more of this had I seen it Off Broadway where there is a bigger suspension of disbelief. As it is the film feels unreal and the wrong sort of claustrophobic. 

While never bad, the limited staging never allows the film to reach the heights of Raimi’s performance. He’s the reason to see this, nothing else.

WHITE NOISE (2023) Fantasia 2023

Woman with extreme sensitivity to sound is sent to the world’s quiets room for a special treatment.

Mostly good  short thriller is hurt by a cliché character in the guise of the tech running the treatment. The use of the distracted tech signals way too early how this is going to go, which lessens an otherwise excellent film.

While I will quibble about the tech, you will still want to see this film for everything it does right. In particular you will want to see this film for it’s wonderful use of sound. It’s so good, especially when coupled with Bahia Watson’s award worthy performance, that you will come away from the film bruised and battered by what you hear. I had to sit in silence for a bit afterward just to reset my brain.

Recommended.

BIBI (2023) Dances With FIlms 2023

Vivian is a woman dealing with the death of her daughter. She is  slowly beginnings to lose her grip on reality. Her surviving child is unhappy that her mother is drifting. As reality and fantasy blur Vivian finds that she is being stalked by a dark figure.

Okay psychological thriller is intriguing so long as its cards aren’t revealed.  Sadly as the film goes on and the film begins to reveal answers the suspense disappears and by the end the excitement of the early part of the film is gone.

I was disappointed.

Safe Space (2022) Fantaspoa 2023

A group of friends go away for a weekend and some time at a one of a kind escape room experience.

This is a hard film to discuss. While the film is very much an exploration of life, love and sex among long time friends, there is a point where things begin to shift and slide. It's not giving anything away to say that things end up going completely differently then you expect (no really).  Because where you start is now where you end up it's nigh impossible to discuss the  film since things changes as we go. I can't talk about what happens without wrecking it all, so I'm not going to try.

I'm going to be honest and say I'm not sure what I think about this film. There are sections of this film I love and sections of the film that I am not certain of. I suspect that my refusal to completely commit to an opinion is the result of my still pondering how it all hangs together. This is a film where you can't know what you think until the end because the geography keeps changing. There is also enough here that I don't want to dismiss anything out of hand. I also want to compare it to a couple of other recent and not recent films but I'm not sure if that's fair.

Apologies for not being forth coming  but I think only people who are going to dismiss the film will discuss the twists and turns because they won't care f it ruins anyone's experience with the film.

If you want a twisty turny, uneven film that may not work, but which is going to give you a true unique cinematic experience (in other words a typical Unseen Films reader) then give SAFE PLACE a try.

Somewhere Quiet (2023) Tribeca 2023

A Meg and her husband go his families summer home in order to help her try and recover from a terrible kidnapping.

This is a film that is pretty much told from Meg's point of view. She has been so traumatized that she is unsure of anything. Even simple events take on ominous shading. We are never certain of anything at any point. Watching the film we get a  good sense of what Meg is feeling.

As well done as much of this film is there is a point where the narrative begins to break apart. The problem is that there is such a lack of communication between the couple and between the filmmakers and the audience that a couple of turns seem to come from out of left field. We are told things that would alter how we see events but are instead only mentioned when they would result in a gasp from the audience, not at a point where it would be natural to insert the information into the story. The story telling doesn't feel fair.  

I was fine for a while and then I stopped caring. I felt that the filmmakers weren't telling Meg's story so much as gaslighting the character in order to produce a reaction in the audience.

I was disappointed.

The Grand Bolero (2022)

Gabriele Fabbro has made his first feature film and the film world should be shaking in its boots. What will he do for an encore? Looking more like a film from the great Italian filmmakers from the 1960's or 70's Fabbro has fashioned a Gothic chamber piece that is firing on all cylinders from the first frame to the last.

The plot is simple. A young mute woman gets a job at a church in order to ride out the lockdown and learn how to restore organs. Her teacher, a cranky middle-aged woman wants no part of it, but her boss insists.  When the young woman is discovered to have great musical talent, her boss begins to melt and then things get messy....

A truly amazing achievement on every level GRAND BOLERO rocks the pillars of heaven from the start. Perfectly painted images set an emotional tone that is matched by the first-rate cast. Oscar missed out in nominating Lidia Vitale for best actress. It is exactly the sort of emotional role that Oscar normally eats up, and which audiences take to their hearts. This may end up being a touchstone role for her, with it being the role everyone talks about.

The film reminded me of any number of great Italian films of the past but dressed up as something new. While I could take the easy way out and compare the film to any number of gaillos as a means of shorthand, it would be wrong to do so. Fabbro has fashioned something greater. This is a psychological dance that transcends any genre to be something more. It may feel like a thriller but the truth is the film is a portrait of desire and the souls of the characters. This is a film that sets up new designations of what a film is.

I am floored.

While I know Fabbro has made a large number of short films I don't think I've ever seen as masterful a first feature. It is a film made with such an assured hand that you would swear he's been doing it for years. This is a film feature directors build toward not start from. The first features of the masters of cinema were not as assured as this film.  And truth be told no matter who made this film I would have still been amazed only I would have been asking why I hadn't heard of him before.

GRAND BOLERO is an absolute must...especially if you want to see the first feature work of a director who just might end up rewriting cinema history.

GRAND BOLERO is currently streaming on Amazon

Abject (2022) Thanksgiving turkey

A year after the death of a couple's child they go away to retreat where a counselor attempts to help them get over their grief. However despite the help the couple sinks deeper and deeper into darkness.

Not very good "thriller" that is covers ground we've been over before a thousand times or more. This is the basic "couple goes away to save their marriage and have it all goes wrong" cliche. The way you get this to work is you give the audience characters they can relate to and feel sympathy for. Thats never the case here. We never really feel for the broken couple because we never feel the connection.

I know part of the problem is the script which doesn't really work, but it doesn't help that the cast, though trying, never wins us over. I can't tell if its their fault or if its the fault of the poor script which doesn't give them anything to do.

This is just a film that misses. It misses so much that I can't even joke about it, I can only suggest you avoid it because it's not even fun to make fun of.

Nanny (2022) Hits theaters Wednesday

Aisha is a young mother from Senegal. She is working a a nanny for a couple in Manhattan as she puts enough money together to bring her son over. As time get close for his arrival strange things begin happening.

I know it was labeled as a horror film by the Sundance people but the truth is the film is not really that. Yes it may have scray moments and fantastical elements, but the truth is this is just a really good drama.

For what it's worth I was all in on NANNY for probably the first three quarters of the film. It was a beautifully acted (Anna Diop is incredible) acted drama that refused to be overt. Hell, the film film goes out of the way to subvert expectations and be what it is, which is a the story of a woman trying to navigate her life and the life of the people she works for.  I went all in because I cared about everyone on screen.

The problem is there is a point where the film get a bit messy. The weird stuff begins to pile up and there are a couple of turns that don't fully make sense.It feels that the script is moving things along faster than it should. (And apologies I can not explain because it would require a detailed plot discussion which I don't want to do because it will give too much away). I took a step back. I didn't disengage but I was a bit less invested.

I am happy to report that the film pulls it together in the end with an ending that is right. I mean I got to the final fade out and as like "ah yes that works nicely." It was good enough that I leaned back into the film.

Ultimately NANNY is a winner. If you can go in know it's not a big tim horror film but a small jewel of a drama with a supernatural flavoring you will be delighted.

GODDAMNED ASURA (2022) TIFF 2022

Director Lou Yi-An GODDAMNED ASURA will rock you.  The film is the story of a shooting in Taiwan and what happened in it's wake. Its a story of six people, a video game a, a comic, alter senses of reality and several other threads that will make you realize that nothing is as cut and dry as you see on the news.

I am normally very wary of any film that is the official entry for the Oscar's because it's more often than not a seemingly randomly chosen film that is okay but nothing special. Every year as the entries cross my in box I am always left to decide if I want to be disappointed or not. On the other hand GODDAMNED ASURA surprised me in the best sort of way.  This is a film that is worthy of Oscar's notice simply because it's a great film. If Oscar were truly an awards show for the best films of the year it would be running for many awards.

While I love pretty much everything about this film, I am most thrilled with the screenplay. A tightly wound affair it takes it's time building characters and setting up the narrative threads. Everyone is well rounded and complex. There are layers to everything and everyone and I was half way into the film when I realized that I need to see the film a second or third time just to catch all the little nuances and details that Lou Yi-An put into every scene. Most American films are nowhere near as rich as this and yet they get all the notice.

The cast is first rate. Another recent example of the Academy needing an ensemble award, there was no point where the actor separated from their character, despite knowing I have seen their work in other films. They are so good as a group that  I don't want to single anyone out.

GODDAMNED ASURA also doesn't really resolve many of the threads. Yes we know what happened and why, but the threads of people's lives, the threads of what happens next to everyone isn't settled. We are left to ponder everyone and everything that we have seen with the result that the film hangs with us as we ponder what happened after the final fade out. 

I love this film to death. It kicked me in the gut and made me think about a lot of things that I am still trying to process.

One the best films I've seen this year, it's a film I am going to be pulling for to make it into the final group of Oscar films. It's also a film I don't want to see Hollywood to remake because they will only mess it up.

Highly recommended.

Fixation (2022) TIFF 2022

I was not enthused by FIXATION at the start. It felt old hat. We’ve been to the well of person trapped in a crazy asylum before, but having had the film recommended to me by an unimpeachable source I decided to stay with it and by the time the film ended I was talking to the screen and feeling deeply deeply disturbed.

What in the holy hell did I just see.

First off the film rightly starts with trigger warnings. This film has a great deal that will set off survivors of sexual assault and violence and I have to applaud the filmmakers for understanding this and taking steps.

The plot of the film has a young woman in a hospital being evaluated as to whether she can stand trial for a crime she can’t remember (shades of Sucker Punch). Of the course of her stay she will be forced to relive parts of her life in an effort to get her to remember and come to terms.

This is not going to go where you think it will. Yes some of it will  but at the same time director Mercedes Bryce Morgan bends it all in such away that you are constantly surprised at each new twist. By the half way point I was hooked and desperate to know what was next.

As much as I want to discuss the film I really can’t. Where the film starts is not where it ends. How things are walking in is different than the end and if I attempt to discuss what happens I will have to reveal all. I just want to say that I said “That’s F-ed up” a great deal.

The cast is great with Maddie Hasson‘s Dora the sort of performance that should be in the Oscar mix if Oscar ever considered this sort of film as remotely worthy. Additionally Stephen McHattie is creepy as all hell as the doctor with a decidedly bad bedside manner. He seems to be riffing on Al Pacino and giving the greatest performance of Pacino’s career.

Ultimately this is a stunner and worth a look for those who want messed up films.

Resurrection (2022) Fantasia

 

Resurrection is the story of a successful single mom (Rebecca Hall) who’s world is turned upside down when an abusive ex (Tim Roth) turns up two decades later. At first Roth is just there but slowly he worms his way back into her life until things explode.

This is a tense thriller that works because of the award caliber performances by Hall and Roth. The pair are stunning together and so good that you just need to see them together to have your blood pressure rise 50 points. Its chilling.

If I would be a betting man I would say that with the right push Rebecca Hall could be in the running for an Oscar. She is really that good with the repressed pain and fear of a long ago bad situation quietly bubbling under the surface. The performance is a masterclass. I am in awe.

While I could quibble about some of the plot details, the performances make it so you don’t care.

Recommended

KING OF PIGS (2022) Fantasia 2022

 

Yeon Sang-ho's (TRAIN TO BUSAN) first film was an animated film called THE KING OF PIGS. A memory play about two friends meeting after several years at which time they talk about the years when they were bullied. It's a dark gut punch of film that rocked audiences at Fantasia and the New York Asian Film Festival in 2012. The film has been turned into a twelve hour miniseries and while it may not have the concentrated punch of the original film, it still is compelling viewing.

The main thrust of the plot has the cops looking for  a serial killer who is seems to be working through the bullies who tormented them. The thing is nothing is quite as clear cut as it seems. Along the way we go back and forth through time as we are forced to relive the pain and suffering of being a kid.

When you see this series you best clear the decks because you are going to want to go through all twelve episodes in one sitting  when they become available (they screened 4 episodes at Fantasia).  I made the major mistake of not realizing that there were twelve episodes. Had I known that I wouldn't have watched the the four episodes I was given because I was left hanging.

I dislike reviewing a series unless I can see it all because one never know if the later episodes carry to the end. Having read a bit on the series and knowing the source I think this series is going to be killer.

One word of warning, this is dark stuff. Yes it has to do with a serial killer, but more importantly the series is long for examination of bullying. Its a film that deals with the darkness of human existence. If you don't want to deal with it don't watch this.

One of the unexpected finds of Fantasia.

Recommended.

Dream Home (2010) NYAFF 2022

With DREAMHOME playing NYAFF here is my review from back in 2011

This nasty little film showed up 2010's Tribeca Film Festival. Having a weakness for horror films I wanted to go but the schedule wouldn't allow it. The word from the screenings was mixed and I didn't feel the need to bend my schedule to see it. It recently showed up in theaters and on pay per view at the same time so I gave it a go.

The plot has a young woman taking matters into her own hands when the apartment she wants is unavailable. She simply kills the owners...and numerous other people.

To be honest the plot isn't much. I don't think it really works and it only exists to give the filmmakers an excuse to shoot the scenes of carnage.

Okay, let me stop things right here. If you don't like graphic violence stop and go on to something else. If you don't like realistic violence do the same. If you watch horror films for a plot and not gore you can move on as well.

Still with me? Okay...

The scenes of violence in this film will turn the the stomach of most people. There is slicing and dicing and bludgeoning and all sorts of nastiness. Blood flows freely and our heroine is injured just as much as her victims. As someone who has been watching horror films for years I have to say that this is really well done stuff. Any CGI that may have been used blends nicely with the effects and you don't see it...or if you see it you don't notice it.

The sequences of violence are truly nasty in a very realistic way. Where films like Nightmare On Elm Street or the later Saw films will have these grand nasty events that gross you out but don't sit with you because they aren't real, this is a film that does things in such a way that you can see it actually happening in real life. This could be us or our loved ones, and it echoes for that reason. The film also shows us the damage that the attacker can suffer since almost no one goes down without a fight, which means our protagonist takes a few good shots.

I have to say that this is a cousin to the recent award winning film Black Swan, with it's lead character who is slowly going nuts. However unlike Black Swan our heroine here wins our sympathy, even as she repulses us. Despite her being as nuts as an outhouse rat to begin with with, we still relate to her, something we never really do with Natalie Portman's character.

The cinematography in this film is amazing. It's some of the finest in any horror movie. Everywhere we go looks magnificent. If this wasn't a gory horror film I could see it getting awards for how good it looks. Then again it was shot by the crew that director Wong Kar-Wai uses.

The opening title sequence is amazing and rarely have any apartment blocks looked this good. Watching the film on pay per view I found myself rewatching the opening credits a second time simply because they look so cool. While not as jaw dropping as the opening of Gaspar Noe's Into The Void, they are close. I wish I had seen this in a theater just so I could have seen the credits on a really big screen.

If only the plot was as good as the bits, this would be a classic. As it stands now, it's a very gory film that I can only recommend to gorehounds and those who like violent set pieces. If you're one of those track this film down. All others need not apply.

Rounding (2022) Tribeca 2022

First things first ROUNDING is no a horror film. Its more a psychological portrait of the main character that uses horror images. It is a film that will flummox you if you go in with any preconceived notions. It is a film that does not do what you think it will and does not behave as anything other than itself. I give this warning because I had to stop and not think about what I was seeing.

The film is about a doctor named James Hyman who transfers to a small rural hospital for his second year residency. Hyman had a mental collapse when a patient died and he feels that new set of surroundings will help him. Things are okay at first, but a patient who seems to have asthma but yet doesn't confounds him. Losing himself in trying to help the young woman Hyman slides farther and farther over the edge.

I am still processing this film because I went in expecting a horror film. As I said above I fought it for a chunk of its run time. Finally when I let it go I found it so much better because I could see the rhythms of the tale-rhythms that are not ones of horror but of a portrait of a man coming undone. That's not giving anything away- since there are still mysteries to solve. Instead of giving anything away it opens things up it gives us more material to chew on. It also makes the answers less easy. In a horror film answers tend to come in certain categories, say monsters, the supernatural mental illness. In real life things are less definite, less clear cut. ROUNDING isn't really clear cut. It's horrible at times but there is also great depths of sadness. 

To be honest the best thing I can say about this film is its going to haunt you. If you want a film that will engage you many levels this it. As this posts its been several days since I've seen the film. I've revisited this piece several times to tweak it or consider tweaking it simply because I can't let it go. Films you can't let go are the best kind.

See ROUNDINGS and see a film that will haunt you.

Poser (2021) opens Friday

I've seen POSER a couple of times now and it provoked different reactions each time I saw it.  That a film can and does change with each viewing is a sign of something special. Too often filmmakers or artists make something that is the same on the 33rd time as it was the first time. It doesn't challenge you or shift as you see new things. POSER shifted before my eyes with each viewing and to be quite honest I don't know what I think or feel about the film, only that I feel the need to engage with it so that I can have so idea where I stand on it. That alone would make  it a film worth seeing even if it wasn't as good as it is.

The film is the story of Lennon Gates, a young woman on the outside of the music world looking in. She decides that her entry is to start a podcast. She goes to shows, speaks to artists and works hard covering the inde music scene. Along the way she meets Bobbi Kitten. Kitten is one half an up and coming duo and has her own agenda.

POSER rocked me the first time I saw it. I knew these people. Yes to be certain there is some heightening of the characteristics but I knew them. I've met similar people in art galleries and film festivals and small music shows.  More troubling is I went out a couple of times with someone like Lennon, the poser of the title. She wanted to be someone and she wanted someone to give her an entre into the world she imagined was better. She disappeared when she realized that I couldn't give her the connections.(She was also working on a piece called Posers)

The second time I saw the film I was outside of the film. I was watching the technical virtuosity of the film. The shot choices, the music, and all of the things that make up the film. My reaction was muted compared to the first time because I was looking at it differently and not seeing it with completely fresh eyes.

A third viewing had me seeing the film differently yet again and pondering what directors Noah Dixon and Ori Sergev were up to. My feelings for the changed shifted again as I started to pull the film apart thematically an pondered how and if it works. I also wondered if yet another viewing was in order. (Its is but down the road a bit)

Make no mistake, I loved the film but I am still wrestling with it some two weeks on from when I first saw it.

For me POSER is a puzzle of a film. It is a film that reminds me of people I've met. It's a film with a main character I can relate to, she is as obsessive about music as I am about film. It is an often brilliantly constructed film with great music and ideas. But it is also cold and distant. It doesn't always connect to the world (like Lennon). It is a film  that both seems to be genuinely about something and yet at other times or at other viewings seems to be a poser itself. 

Is this a film something special unto itself or is it just a stepping stone the directors hope to use to move on? I don't know. I really don't but I can't look away and I can't stop engaging with it because for better or worse there is something there. (I think for better)

I suspect that some of you are confused about my reaction. You want to know should you see it or not. You want me to give you a definite thumbs up or down, or a number of stars but I can't do that. This isn't that sort of a film. This is a film you rate and file away, rather this is a film you think about and reconsider over and over again.  My answer is see it. See it because you will have to engage with it rather than let it simply wash over you.  See it because no matter what happens you will have seen something that sticks with you instead of disappearing. See it because its a film that people are going to be talking about for a long time to come.

Welcome, Violeta! (2022) Brooklyn FIlm Festival 2022

 

Ana is a writer who has been accepted into a prestigious workshop located high in the mountains. She wants to try and finish the novel she is working on (the title of the film is the title of her novel). While she was aware that the head of the workshop does some odd things she is not prepared for what happens as she and the other writers are pushed to become their characters.

Literary thriller  is one you will have to pay attention to. Its not so much that it’s complex, rather it’s this is a film Where what is not said or what people are doing  rather saying is important. I looked away a couple of times as I was making notes and I realized that I missed something. I mention this because the film is making it’s World Premiere at the Brooklyn Film Fest as both an in person and virtual screening. If you can’t see this on a big screen (which I recommend because it’s a starkly beautiful film), then clear the decks and turn off your cellphone and just watch it with no distractions.

This is a beautifully acted film. While the film focuses on Débora Falabella as Ana, the rest of the cast are just as important and they all sell their roles perfectly. The cast is a perfect ensemble and they all help to pull you into the proceedings. They make us feel like we are tramping around the spartan rooms of the mountain top retreat with them.

A slow building thriller rooted in reality. While there are big moments as the various characters spin out, its always the sort of thing that never feels over the top or there just for a big moment. The result is a film that leaves us feeling exhausted and frosty by its conclusion. (I dare not say more lest the thrills be lessened)

This is a small gem of a film and very recommended.

Monstrous (2022)

MONSTROUS is a film that’s hard to explain. I say that because this is a film of layers, of turns and of moments that happen and make you realize what you’ve been watching is no the story you thought you were watching. It’s one of those films that causes you to talk to the screen as new details shake your perception of reality.

I have been thinking about this film for several hours now. As I write this about 10 hours have past since I finished the film. I've been turning it over and over in my mind trying to sort out. As I did so I realized that this is the sort of film that my opinion of the film changed. This is really fun ride. However once you get to the end the film changes. It becomes a good film of a different sort, I mention this because this is a film you need to see knowing as little as possible.

Set in 1955 the film has a mother and her son fleeing to a remote house by a lake. They are looking to start over after escaping from an abusive ex. Both mother and son are deeply scarred and lean on each other to get through their days. However things are not as calm  as they would like as there appears to be a dark presence lurking in the lake.

I will not get into any details however I will say that Christina Ricci is dynamite. I know she's been great since she first appeared on the scene, however there is something about this role which takes her to the next level. She gives the sort of a performance that makes you go WOW.

This is a nifty little thriller and its worth a look.