Sex Fiend

Kind of agree with your take, though some of the dark/disturbing elements introduced in the last third did perk it up a bit for me. But generally, I prefer ambiguousness in a horror film over a cut and dried "explanation" of what is going on that tends to diminish much of the mystery and dread in so many Hollywood horror films.

tasha99

Daytripper

That was some fucked up shit. It was like watching the worst nightmare you could ever have. Nicely done!

Defiant1

Agreed. Just came back from seeing it. The director said he wanted to make a movie about a family suffering from grief but whereas in most movies where the family ultimately strengthens their bond in unity, his movie would have a family where grief tears them apart. He succeeded! Incredibly disturbing movie with a phenomenal performance by Toni Collette. Kudos to the brilliant cinematography as well. The day-to-night (and vice versa) transitions were awesome. This is the second movie I've seen this year to prominently feature tilt shift photography (the other was Game Night) and for both movies, it's logically used to symbolize greater themes.

Mr. Flix

I really, really, really wanted to love this movie. I love a good scary movie, and have a hard time not buying into the hype when things like "This Generation's 'The Exoricist'" are said. So I was all ready to be fully invested.

I will echo several of the positives already stated:
- The movie had GREAT atmosphere and tension. There was a real sense of foreboding from beginning to (nearly) the end.
- Loved the set design.
- Loved the miniatures. Wish they had played into the plot more.
- Toni Collette = wow. I've loved her since "The Sixth Sense." She totally carried this movie.
- There were a couple of effective set pieces that really worked.

Overall, however, the movie did not work for me.
- As has been said by a few, whoever played the son did not give a convincing performance, particularly in the emotional scenes.
- Several reviewers mentioned a "completely shocking" moment partway through the movie which did not shock me at all. (Call me jaded.) I also saw it coming several seconds before it happened. I will say that Collette's reaction to what happened was gut-wrenching.
- Ann Dowd's performance vacillated from really good acting to really bad improv.
- Aside from the positives I've already mentioned, this is a fairly typical horror movie. I'm putting the rest of my thoughts in spoilers:


One other note about the audience I saw this with: about 40 people, mostly adults in their 30s - 60s. There were two small groups of 20-somethings: a group of girls who whispered to each other the ENTIRE time, and a group of guys who clucked whenever Charlie clucked (HILARIOUS). The rest of the audience was quiet and respectful, and yet they did giggle several times, and I didn't blame them. The movie just failed so sell some of its scares and some of the dialog/acting (the son) was giggle-worthy. The audience only gasped a single time:


When it was over, I heard two different people say, "That's it?" I'm understanding the D+ CinemaScore now. Like I said, I really wanted to love it, and there are elements of this movie that make it a cut above typical horror, but ultimately I was disappointed. Among the new slate of "horror done right," It Follows, The Babadook, and A Quiet Place were much better.

tasha99

About stuff in MrFix's spoiler tags:

Nesbit

I went into this movie as blind as possible. I knew Toni Collette was in it, it was horror, and it was getting good reviews. Let my son pick between it and Ocean's 8.

Hated it. Also hated the VVitch to the point where if I had known they were at all similar I would have probably avoided this at least until I could see it streaming somewhere. The tone and tempo just dont connect with me in any way for either film so it's just some good - great performances in a movie I'm bored to tears by. Strangely The Babadook is probably my favorite horror film of the last 10 years.

I actually liked the boy quite a bit though I did go up to go to the bathroom during the dinner scene which I've seen some people call out as a low point for his acting. Toni Collette was excellent and I'm bummed that I will probably never watch her best performance ever a second time as I really like her as an actress. Gabrielle Burns's acting just felt off to me especially in the first half. I couldn't tell if he was being patronizing, knew something the rest of the characters didnt, or was just off.

Was a lot of fun going into a movie blind like that even with the crappy results.

Sex Fiend

I probably liked it better than you did, but I agree that the plot (and "explanation/motivation" for everything that happened doesn't hold up to close scrutiny... as is often the case for most horror films. They really REALLY depend on a lot of suspension of disbelief, and that can be more jarring when the overall mood of the film is going for a "realistic" feel.

That being said, the creepy stuff was just weird enough to make allowances for the clichéd and unbelievable aspects of it. I was initially kind of ho-hum about it, but like it a bit more after a few days of thinking about it. I think that is largely due to the overall quality of the direction and production quality, more than the script, which was the weak point.

The Bus

The movie didn't know what it wanted to be (aside from scary) and there was no clear idea of what the main conflict was throughout the film. There was no one to root for (aside from, briefly Good Cook Dad played by Gabriel Byrne). As others have said, had it stayed in pure psychological horror it would've been fine.

It doesn't hold up to scrutiny and I wouldn't put it alongside modern classics like You're Next, The Cabin in the Woods, It Follows, The Babadook, and Get Out.

Hokeyboy

This was fantastic. I love a good slow build. I also love that the movie starts off as one thing, turns sharply into something else (where it veers dangerously close to standard tropes/cliches), and becomes something wholly other in the Third Act.

It also has the benefit of having enough story for the viewer to connect the dots, but a little bit of ambiguity to make you question everything.

9 out of 10. Easy.

Daytripper

So agree. But I'm going to give it a 10/10. Mainly because it has stayed with me since seeing it on Sunday. It's one of the most disturbing, intense and unsettling movies that I have ever seen. An instant horror classic IMO.

EdTheRipper

I agree 100%. I saw it on Monday, and can't get it out of my head. The crowd that we saw it with was hooked until the points where it took a turn. Once that happened, the majority of the crowd started to chuckle and outright laugh at parts. I stayed focused on it until the end and really liked it. I'm interested in seeing it again but I don't think I can convince my son to go with me.

tasha99

I saw it almost aweek ago, and have to say it's the most disturbing movie I've ever seen. I think it hit me because My daughter went back for a second viewing, and said she benefited a lot from rewatching it--lots of things made more sense and things she didn't notice first time through. I'm not up to a second viewing, lol.

TomOpus

I can't wait for a second viewing.

TheHive08

I'll echo this one as well. Saw it yesterday during a matinee with a thankfully small and quiet audience. One of my favorite horror movies in years. Loved the build, loved the finale. I liked this much better than The Witch, for whatever reason. Collette was out-of-this-world good.

melasnus

This movie looks like this year's Babadook.

Trevor

This was a roller coaster for me. Despite some great acting and that powerful as crap , about halfway thru I was leaning towards hating it. Not sure why, it just wasn’t quite what I expected, or just didn’t fully click. But then 15 or so minutes later I was loving it, the family drama hit home with me, the emotions were palpable, and the scares were intense. But that last third, while scaring the crap out of me and making me shrink into my seat, probably killed any chance of this becoming a favorite. I was hoping it’d stay

islandclaws

I loved this. Took a while for it to all sink in, but there's so much to ingest and uncover that a repeat viewing is essential.

Colette was incredible; such a powerful performance.

Gorgeous cinematography.

One of the best scores of the year.

Mystery was a bit thin during the second act but the insanity of the third act brought it all together.

So glad I saw this with a small crowd, who remained quiet. I can definitely see how this would play poorly to a packed house of Joe Six Packs.

Spiderbite

I found the movie more tedious than scary. Actual not scary one bit. But that was the exact experience I had while watching the overrated The Witch, Rosemary's Baby and other movies of that ilk.

I was hoping it would stay with the psychological horror vibe it seemed to be going for. That would have been much scarier and disturbing than the whole

Bu that's the thing about horror. It's a lot like comedy in that it is very subjective. What's funny or scary varies from person to person. The only truly eerie scene for me that really creeped me out was when

The rest was just kind ho-hum. And can someone explain why the dad

My rating: **1/2 out of *****

asianxcore

Saw this again yesterday at a local second-run theater.

Enjoyed it just as much as the first time that I saw it.

The audience for this screening was similar to some of the other posters' experiences. Mimicking Charlie's clicking noise, consistently talking, etc. At the moment, I attributed it to the film being effective, as I felt the audience was trying to do something to alleviate the tension & stress they felt during certain scenes of the film.

And can someone explain why the dad

I was wondering this as well. It confused me during my first viewing and again during my second.

Perkinsun Dzees

My take on that scene is that

islandclaws

^ I like that explanation quite a bit.

Boba Fett

Probably should have not read all the hype and reviews because I found this one generally boring; horror films have never once scared me apart from cheap jump scares. I do enjoy the genre and hoped one would finally give me the creeps, but I personally found this a bit cliche and ho-hum.

Abob Teff

Add me to the “meh” crowd. I have been a big fan of the A24 staples, so it wasn’t a pacing or tone issue for me. For the caliber of filmmaking here and the quality acting, the story was a bit of a hot mess. I got what the filmmaker was going for, but there were too many instances of things happening for convenience of the writer rather than organically happening for the story.

The biggest instance of this is the progression of Paimon. It starts in the daughter (cool) and should jump to the son at the time of her death — he was there, he was vulnerable, and this would explain his seemingly nonplussed reaction. It would explain the lady yelling at him to get out of his own body if Paimon was in there with him at that time. But instead the demon ends up ... in the mom?? What? How?The mom then goes after the boy in a rather strange (for the story) and inconsistant mix of stealth and all-out attack mode.

The things it does well, it does very well. I can’t say I had developed much of an attachment to the daughter (despite having a special needs child myself), but her death scene was one of the biggest gut-punches I’ve ever experienced in a theater. I was so emotionally repulsed at that point that I literally felt sick and considered walking out. Then I realized the scene was working on a level most films never reach. Unfortunately the rest of the film does not keep up with that. There are no characters to associate with or feel sympathetic towards, the story doesn’t hold up, and there is no reason to continue to engage the film.

brainee

I think I need to stop seeing horror movies in theaters. I've just had too many occasions where people in the room ruin my experience. Which is what happened here. A couple of people continually laughed at the inappropriate places, utterly destroying any chance of the movie working for me. It wasn't even something I could complain to anyone about because they weren't talking or anything ... just consistently laughing at the worst times. I get how of the more over-the-top moments could make some laugh or giggle. But the biggest laugh getting scene was . Which had me tempted to go up to these people and shout at them "WTF is wrong with you people?!?!?!"