Rating: 2/5
Isaac and his stepmother, Laura, walk the hospital halls to find James, Isaac’s father, on life support. They are here to say goodbye. Bloody bandages obscure James’s face.
The two try to live their lives in their decadent mid-century modern home. Through home movies, we see how much Isaac loved James. Laura, not so much. But Isaac has no next of kin so Laura will be his guardian.
Isaac cannot shake the feeling that his father was not dead when they pulled the life support.
This film is yet another meditation on grief — a theme that has dominated popular horror for a while now. I tend not to care when the movie has enough spoops and ideas. Here, the ideas are small and do not warrant the runtime.
It’s difficult not to compare this to The Babadook. This movie has taken so much from it that it’s hard not to think of it as a spiritual remake. The obvious difference is that the film substitutes The Babadook’s subtext for text.
The best part of the movie is Laura — her pain feels genuine as she refuses to step up as a parent and tries to drink her grief away. But of course, it’s not that simple.
Also, The Prodigy’s Destroy plays during a major scene, so that kind of rules.
But yeah, this movie isn’t very good!