Review of The Last Voyage of the Demeter

With a pretty good production quality, strong group of actors, and referential source material, Norwegian director Ovredal seems to have all the ingredients for a strong horror movie in "The Last Voyage of the Demeter". The execution and result, however, doesn't bake into something as grand unfortunately. The pacing and lighting are not good, characters often do questionable or irrational actions given the circumstances, and there is little surprise. The movie comes out bland and fairly flat. Corey Hawkins and Liam Cunningham anchor a strong and capable group of actors, but the direction and lack of imagination can't pull the movie up into solid footing. Too bad as with better focus, pacing, and editing the movie becomes leaner and more effective - cut down on at-sea time, make the characters smarter, and add more preamble and epilogue. 6/10.