Movie Review Resurrection (2022)
Sunday 2022.
Written and directed by Andrew Semmons.
Starring Rebecca Hall, Tim Roth, Grace Kaufman, Michael Esper and Angela Wong Carbone.
SYNTAX :
Margaret's life is wonderful. She is competent, disciplined and hardworking. Everything is under control. That is, until David returns, taking the horrors of Margaret's past with him.
Rebecca Hall and Tim Roth are incredible actors who played perhaps two of the most underrated roles of the past year, in David Bruckner's psycho-horror House of Night and Michel Franco's provocative thriller Sunset , respectively.
The juxtaposition of such dynamic and intense characters in a trauma-filled horror film raises high hopes for Andrew Simmons' ( Nancy Please ) resurrection , which is sure to be one of the most provocative and controversial films of 2022 at Sundance.
Margaret (Rebecca Hall) leads what appears to be a fulfilling life, successfully balancing a successful career with single parenthood and raising her soon-to-be daughter Abby (Grace Kaufman). But Margaret's settled status quo is shaken when she discovers a famous man from her past, David (Tim Roth), at a work conference. Then David reappears in their neighborhood, forcing them to confront a deep-seated trauma from over two decades ago.
Filtering modern horror through the lens of trauma has almost become a cliché these days, but it's such a rich and visceral vessel through which personal heightened anxiety is channeled that filmmakers — or even critics — don't know it, can't be blamed. so often.
In Semans' incredibly uncomfortable horror thriller, trauma is anything but ordinary disease, slowly bleeding out with calm intensity from the opening moments and not stopping until the final frames. The film's first act leaves the viewer largely on their own to navigate an ambiguous mood with little context as to who David is, save for scattered references to an incident 22 years ago and Margaret's stuffy overprotectiveness. a naturally mean girl.
But when Margaret's complicated existence is thrown off balance, the audience is forced to wonder what might be the result of her broken spirit. It's a sad feature of psychological horror at this point, and yet Semans finds something entirely unique in dealing with unresolved pain.
However, some of the trickier mechanics and plot concepts will leave the most average warped viewer completely clueless; if you were blown away by The Night House , you probably won't even make it to the end of the movie. The biggest revelation is that it borders on the silly and creepy, working through some creepy and brilliant concepts that will likely stick with you for a while.
The truth of the situation gradually becomes more and more illusory, not to mention that Semans actually stops the film halfway through Margaret's haunting denouement, in which she details her past with David - a past rooted in violence and something so amazing that it would be a crime to spoil it.
This revealing confession marks a turning point in the drama, taking the story into more unconventional territory given the mystery of "is she imagining it or not?" Semans maintains this awkward tension until the end, where, in the most thrilling terms, it seems that no crazy idea can be undone. The belligerent denouement and ambiguous epilogue that follow are sure to infuriate as many viewers as they charm, but it's hard not to admire the director's dedication to the work.
While this isn't Seman's first feature film, it's his first in over a decade, so it feels like the genre-bending director is coming with his own vision. Semans dares to change genre images in such a way that viewers should probably watch what they want. While the mechanical vagaries of the result are a little overwhelming, there's a twist to the narrative that doesn't feel like the director is just trying to make a film adjacent to the A24. Still, it's certainly as aesthetically pleasing as we've come to expect from this stable, given the rich lensing of Wyatt Garfield and the eerie, shrill string score of Jim Williams.
However, it is easy to imagine that the great risks of the tale would be less convincing without the extraordinary talents of the two main characters. Hall is quickly making a name for himself as a force to be reckoned with in the horror/thriller arena, delivering a multi-faceted performance that goes beyond soothing the usual traumatized tics. Her face looks so wild, presumably weathered in some scenes, that it's hard to believe she wasn't actually sleep-deprived before filming.
As the counterpart, Roth makes the most of his caustic, evil persona, breaking into a creepy, creepy smile at the right moment, but mostly maintaining a composure that clearly annoys him. Whatever we make of the situation and its possibilities, Roth rotates David between the heightened and profane possibilities of the central conflict.
Grace Kaufman is also good as Margaret's daughter, Abby, a young woman who risks becoming a secondary victim of her mother's psychological defeat. The complex dynamic between overprotective mother and independent daughter makes for some really explosive, great arguments, but the pair also have particularly poignant scenes in which the mother teaches her daughter to drink and appreciate whiskey.
It looks like it was sewn for farewell, but it's hard to argue with the craftsmanship of its assembly. Possibly one of the craziest horror movies you'll see all year. " Resurrection " relies heavily on bold ideas supported by Rebecca Hall's mesmerizing performance.
The Shining Myth Rating - Movie: ★★★★ / Movie: ★★★
Sean Monroe - Follow me on Twitter for more movies.
