By: JWBM
A mother and daughter move into a new house that turns out to have a dark past. Meanwhile, one of the neighbors—a kind of Betty White meets Norman Bates—has the intention to see that they get out no matter the consequences.
This has the look and feel of a stepping stone movie where almost everyone involved already has their sights on the next project. It's somewhat dry and boxed in at times; the difference of a peak at a real home versus a department store catalog one. For a story about deep rooted issues related to obsession and dual personalities, it feels awfully pedestrian and like they were imitated from other fiction. Instead of having the character act out her motivations, she often narrates out loud and takes the punch right out of her supposed dark actions. I'm all for stories taking their time to build up suspense and character development, though it strikes too much of a balance in that she's able to conveniently recognize her own behavior as normal or strange when it suits the story. They made her jaded but sympathetic, which seemed like the only focus to details.
This is not an experience to constantly jolt the senses—it's more basic story-telling that explores one aspect at a time and then leads into the next progression. Though even with that, its layers are as easily visible and exciting as a glass ant farm with a few ants moving about and every now and again something happens that would alter their course. Minimalist stories can work either through mood, pacing, or the performances to keep the senses awake, yet this still feels somewhat lacking in an overall gravitating immersion that instead requires a few pauses and stretches to get through it.
The actors tend to read their lines and meet their marks without bridging that into something more than the script called for. For instance, the whole shaky relationship angle between mother and father felt slapped in for some forced drama; the reasoning was just a weak excuse to have resolution. The mother and daughter also acted more as a catalyst to the events than characters with layers or backbone. One of those, "I don't know what's going on, but this is crazy" kind of casual observers you see at the scene of a crime rather than someone with more stakes and involvement.
While the film was professionally made to an extent, the story was too easy at times. Watch it on a sleepy, rainy afternoon, though don't expect it to make your Saturday night more alive.
Rating: 3.5/10
Director: Doug Campbell (Locked Away; Bad Sister)
Actors: Patty McCormack, Angie Patterson
Info: IMDB link
Trailer: YouTube trailer
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