Rating: 3.5/5
Edna (Robyn Nevin) has disappeared. Her daughter Kay (Emily Mortimer) and granddaughter Sam (Bella Heathcote) initiate a search for her. While searching, they stay at Edna’s, where Sam hears knocking within the walls, and Kay has dreams of an old house in the woods filled with a black mold
Then, one night, Edna returns as though nothing happened, telling everyone not to worry despite being bruised on the chest and with blood on her nightgown. As time goes on, Edna displays concerning behavior while Sam tries to figure out what happened to Edna, and Kay relearns how to be around a mother she’s grown distant from
The movie maintains a quiet timbre with jolts of sound (the dreaded downward slope audio mix) but does an adequate job of keeping the mood disquieting
The movie explores themes of generational trauma and the pains of growing older, as images of decay and changing space curl around the characters and the frustrations of shared experiences but not having the language to verbalize them
The real standouts here are the committed performances from the three leads. Each actor must wrestle with complex emotions while navigating unusual and disturbing situations
Overall, this is a solid standout horror that seemed to go under the radar, at least for me