Written & Directed By: Ishana Shyamalan
Based On the Novel By: A.M. Shine
Cinematography: Eli Arenson
Editor: Job Ter Burg
Cast: Dakota Fanning, Georgina Campbell, Olsen Fouere, Oliver Finnegan, Alister Brammer, John Lynch, Siobhan Hewlett
A young artist gets stranded in an extensive, immaculate forest in western Ireland, where, after finding shelter, she becomes trapped alongside three strangers, stalked by mysterious creatures each night.
This film is disappointing now much will be sad because this film is from the daughter of M. Night Shyamalan, Ishana Shyamalan. There have already been calls of nepotism or Nepo baby feeling that she only got a big studio release because of who her father is and the fact that he also produced the film.
Now the film is in a similar style of being something supernatural and mysterious, and having a twist. Unfortunately, it doesn’t make good on its prints as the trailer for this film intrigued me as you didn’t exactly know what was happening. She also follows him and his more recent footsteps of adapting, a little-known or well-hidden novel for the big screen that if not for some research you would think would be an original script. That would work for her father, as his name comes with a certain pedigree and is bigger than any source material.
Once you watch the film and the story is fully explained there would be less mystery, but the problem isn’t that there is less mystery. It’s that it just doesn’t seem the greatest thought out as the script is barely subtle, and along the way becomes a bit predictable or if not predictable it’s nothing you haven’t seen before and other films so that here it just feels like a hodgepodge of ideas combine together to try and make the story work.
It feels more like a first draft than a fully thought-through and finished story. There seems so much potential in the setup, never quite comes together in a meaningful or sensible way, Which is especially shocking considering it’s based on a novel.
The direction is quite inspired and the cinematography is tight, but the rest of the film feels so empty. It’s one of these films that by the end. You don’t really care. You’re just happy that it’s coming to an end.
Rarely offers surprises or suspense you watch as it goes along and hope it will get better along the way with its twist and it rarely does.
There is a glimmer of hope and promise here, though tighter scripting and a better follow-through will be needed. Especially to follow either in her father’s footsteps or even the car out an original artistic voice of her own.
Grade: D
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