Sometimes not knowing anything about a film is a good thing. The only thing I knew about this film going in was that it started Halle Berry and there was suppose to be something in the woods.
GOOD POINTS
Central Performances
This film is basically a three parter with Halle Berry (Momma), Anthony B. Jenkins (Samuel) and Percy Daggs IV (Nolan). There are other people in but they are only in it briefly and the three central performances are all really good. They felt like a family and that they cared for each other. Berry’s performance is intense at times. Jennings and Daggs IV are particularly impressive because for a large chunk of the movie they are carrying the film and they work well enough together that I found myself not missing Berry
Atmospheric
It might seem easy to make a house in the woods seem atmospheric but its harder than it looks and Alexandre Aja does a good of making it feel like there was something in the woods even though we see very little. If you have seen enough B-Movies where they film in the woods then you know that its can easily be done badly.
Interesting Setup
All we know at the beginning of the film is that something happened and Momma, Samuel & Nolan might be the only people left and they have limited resources. We don't know too much and the film works on the plausible idea that less is more. You don't need to spell it out for the audience. Leaving some blanks can work well and the set up is enough to make the story interesting and it allows the characters to get on with it.
Good Pace
The film is 1 hour and 40 minutes long and its the perfect running time. Even five minutes more might have slowed things down and ruined it. The story gets in, tells us what it needs to tell us and then ends. It was a very satisfying pace. There are a lot of films that seem to thing more is better but find the right duration is not that difficult and this film proves it.
BAD POINTS
Predictable Twist
Normally I can’t predict things that might be obvious to most people but I guessed fairly early on that this was all in the head of Momma but it wasn't until the grandmother appears and it cuts to another shot and she’s gone. This is being harsh on the film to put this in the bad points section but I often thing that its a fault of the film that make it so obvious that I can pick up on it
Ambiguous Ending
I think that the ending was too up in the air with not having a clear answer as to whether its all their heads or there really is an evil force. Just when I thought that it was clear this was all happening in Mama's head and then Samuel's before we see the helicopter with Nolan and Samuel on before the last shot being of the polaroid with Samuel and a hand on his shoulder. I would have like a more clearcut ending.
OVERALL
I enjoyed this film overall. Not knowing too much was the right way to go into this film. It's probably not going to work for everybody because it doesn't explain what's going on and there arent explosions or excessive gore but I think that works in the film's favour. I like Aja as a film maker having been a fan of Crawl and really like Oxygen and this continues his good run. Defintley worth your time and worth seeing at the cinema.
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