Synopsis

Almost exclusively, one-setting horror/thrillers are precious gems that do a whole lot with very little. When you're immersed in piecing together the puzzle and figuring out who the main character is, a film that falls under this category is dynamite. Charlie (Emily Bennett) is setting the atmosphere in her sleek, two-story apartment in Brooklyn for a romantic homecoming for her distant girlfriend Simone (Emma Myles) who's been away for work. There are past glimpses of visual tension between the two, so we're led to feel that this meticulous setting of mood may be a peacemaking gesture. Enamored beyond all good sense, Charlie begins to experience a myriad of unsettling incidents (an unstable voice from a vent, shadows that appear, eerie WiFi disruptions), and the horrors of what has transpired are slowly revealed in the shards of Charlie's resistant memory. They delightfully manifest in all those horror trope faves, yet still feel like a ripe pick off the branch. Co-writers and co-directors Emily Bennett and Justin Brooks work in the classic camp of the claustrophobic psychological thriller, making good use of NYC's even more tight feel during quarantine. —ASHLEE BLACKWELL

Almost exclusively, one-setting horror/thrillers are precious gems that do a whole lot with very little. When you're immersed in piecing together the puzzle and figuring out who the main character is, a film that falls under this category is dynamite. Charlie (Emily Bennett) is setting the atmosphere in her sleek, two-story apartment in Brooklyn for a romantic homecoming for her distant girlfriend Simone (Emma Myles) who's been away for work. There are past glimpses of visual tension between the two, so we're led to feel that this meticulous setting of mood may be a peacemaking gesture. Enamored beyond all good sense, Charlie begins to experience a myriad of unsettling incidents (an unstable voice from a vent, shadows that appear, eerie WiFi disruptions), and the horrors of what has transpired are slowly revealed in the shards of Charlie's resistant memory. They delightfully manifest in all those horror trope faves, yet still feel like a ripe pick off the branch. Co-writers and co-directors Emily Bennett and Justin Brooks work in the classic camp of the claustrophobic psychological thriller, making good use of NYC's even more tight feel during quarantine. —ASHLEE BLACKWELL

February 08, 2022 at 02:06 PM