“The lodge” film review

new-horror-movie-the-lodge-gets-terrifying-snowbound-trailer-800x450.jpg — 82/100 “sweet”

Why did this have to come out after Hereditary?

Yeah, I know The Lodge was initially released in festivals late 2019. Readers must be like: “Then why the hell are you putting this in the 2020 section?” Because it actually got its official theatrical release in the US in February earlier this year. Apologies for getting off-topic, but this is a damn good, darkly atmospheric, tension-filled horror thriller that feels a little too close to home during quarantine. In an era where we have seen diminishing returns for the genre, this isn’t only terrifying, but the performances are all sublime. Prominently Riley Keough, who portrays quite the interesting character. Really the only thing from me declaring this a masterpiece is the third act twist that missed the mark. It wasn’t bad or anything, but it was a little out-of-left-field. Otherwise, I was consistently entertained, at the edge of my seat, always waiting for the next unpredictable scare. Directors Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala are clearly skilled, and this marks a striking follow-up to their supposedly fantastic debut, Goodnight Mommy.

In the movie, we follow two children, named Aiden (Jaeden Martell) and Mia Hall (Lia McHugh). Their father, Richard (Richard Armitage), is currently going through a rough patch in his relationship with their mother, Laura (Alicia Silverstone). However, when Richard tells Laura that they need to finalize the divorce since he’s supposed to marry Grace (Keough) in the not-so distant future, she unexpectedly kills herself. Christmas is on the way, and despite the recent tragedy, Richard has decided to take Grace and his two children up to a secluded lodge in the mountains for the holidays. Aiden and Mia, clearly depressed after their mother’s suicide, do some research on Grace and find out that she was apart of some insane religious cult lead by a mentally-ill man. Totally normal step-mom, right? Yeah! Now suspicious and still mourning, it’s the perfect set-up for the worst trip ever. When Richard leaves the three to work in the city for a couple days before promising to return on Christmas day, food and clothes begin to go missing among other mysterious things as Grace, Aiden and Mia slowly lose their sanity. Call it a wannabe The Shining or pretentious bullshit, but don’t forget to judge it on its own merits, and it has many.

First of all, the acting. The three main performances, including the two child ones, are absolutely fabulous, and I’d love to see all three in more roles. Riley Keough, known for Mad Max: Fury Road and Logan Lucky, finally gets that spotlight she so desperately needed in her career. Both compelling and horrifying, the actress makes audiences want to root for and kill Grace simultaneously, and it can be incredibly entertaining to witness. In places, she’s the sweetest person in the world, and in most others, she’s the agent of the devil, the ultimate symbol of evil. Her versatility brings depth and intrigue to the character, and the filmmakers never really gives us straight answers, which is what I have been admiring about some of the better horror movies released in the 2010s. Jaeden Martell continues to knock it out of the park each performance he gives. After having his breakout debut with It a few years ago, the kid has been giving stellar outings after stellar outings in films like Knives Out, The Book of Henry and Apple TV+’s mystery series Defending Jacob. Similarly to Keough, after several supporting roles, he gets to be the main character again, and it works. Martell’s acting proves that he has to be one of, if not the best child actors working today. Lastly, Lia McHugh hasn’t truly been in any real roles before due to her even younger age, only briefly appearing in Hot Summer Nights. However, you can tell that her performance in The Lodge jumpstarted her career because she’s already confirmed to be in the anticipated Marvel film Eternals. And it’s well-deserved.

Despite all of the great things I just mentioned about the movie, the cinematography is probably my all-out favorite aspect of it all. The framing is astounding, every shot breathtaking, the color palettes gorgeous and depressing, and the direction skilled and concise. The stark contrasts of white and the silhouettes of the film’s characters are gorgeous, and this has to be one of the best-looking films I have seen all year. Overall, in terms of technical achievement, this would be a perfect film if not for its few problems outside of the immaculate editing and fantastic low-budget, claustrophobic visuals. There’s more. The musical score in this sounds evil, and the use of short, almost off-tune strokes on the cello and violin have a haunting beauty to it that perfectly suits the movie. For fans of atmospheric horror and disturbing visuals, this will feel like therapy to you. Advocates of slasher films, on the other hand, will find precious little to cherish. I know I sound pretentious and irritating, but isn’t what I just stated sort of true? I reckon it is. There are, however, some issues that lie in all the greatness surrounding them. For example, the third act twist was basically pinning Keough’s character, who we knew was a little bit nuts, going to the extent of killing Richard at the very end. Although Grace isn’t exactly sane, that just isn’t in reasonable length. This makes the entire last 20 minutes a fairly disappointing experience, unfortunately. Otherwise, I don’t know for sure if they had already wrapped up the entire story before Hereditary was released, but if it wasn’t, this feels too inspired by that movie, which is also better. Besides these two problems, this is a ruthless, visually sumptuous horror flick that will have images stained in your mind long after the credits roll.

The final opinion is: Despite questionable, occasionally derivative plot points and an unrealistic end twist, The Lodge is a mostly original, beautifully-made and directed horror movie with stellar performances, a haunting soundtrack, and immaculate editing…$PLURGE IT