After a prologue which features a boy knocked off his bike by an invisible force we enter the home of the Harpers, mum dad and son. There is a coldness in the home directed at Jackie. Her son resists her olive branches and her husband sleeps on the couch in a show of acceptance. He's a detective, on the job of what looks like the resurgence of a particularly vile serial monster. If that wasn't enough there are some strange things happening in the house.
That's it for the plot as the spoilers start early in this movie. I can, however, say that while this one strides along at a decent clip and you probably won't regret giving it the time it leaves with a sense of very little achievement. There are a number of massive revelations at crucial points that all feel like writers playing get out of a jam cards and as each one happens it's not so much that you predicted it as a lack of surprise at learning it.
That's a pity as this film is constructed to take energy from its reveals and how they affect our view of characters we've been following so far. When the currency of the thriller is not good enough could there at least be characters to fall back on? There are many such films I can think of where I have forgotten the big denouement but recalled a strong build and atmosphere. This one's tightly constructed to the end, I just didn't care about it. One character begins benign and turns out dark 'n' nasty. Another begins with the burden of sin and then .... well, we kind of forget about it as something bad happens in that corner. Dig? It's a writer's room movie, however handsomely presented and how good the score (and it's great).
So, I can't even get passionate in my dismissal of it and it's for the same reason that every parent learns to give when they really want to cause a moment's damage to their offspring: I'm not angry, just disappointed.
On Netflix Australia.
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