There's nothing wrong with horror films that are heavy on atmosphere. They obviously don't play well with mainstream audiences, but if you're looking for something that gets under your skin, a film with less focus on script and more on production design can be a really enjoyable experience. Personally, I'm a big fan of Oz Perkins, whose films are very difficult to recommend to casual viewers.
But atmosphere can only take you so far. Eventually, something needs to happen. It feels like the director had ideas for disturbing scenes (and the rape is a genuinely well-crafted, terrifying moment) but very little to connect these scenes.
The pie scene from A Ghost Story gets criticized for its almost-comical length, but this movie is full of scenes like that, but they're just transitions. Why show her walking into the water at normal speed, when you can take five minutes to do it?
I really wanted to like this. But this is a real slog. If you must watch it, watch it 2x speed, and you'll get basically the same experience but in around 50 minutes.
But atmosphere can only take you so far. Eventually, something needs to happen. It feels like the director had ideas for disturbing scenes (and the rape is a genuinely well-crafted, terrifying moment) but very little to connect these scenes.
The pie scene from A Ghost Story gets criticized for its almost-comical length, but this movie is full of scenes like that, but they're just transitions. Why show her walking into the water at normal speed, when you can take five minutes to do it?
I really wanted to like this. But this is a real slog. If you must watch it, watch it 2x speed, and you'll get basically the same experience but in around 50 minutes.