If you like horror films that consist mainly of bucket-loads
of gore, lots of unintelligible screaming, severed
limbs and a plethora of mutilated bodies, then Mike
Flanagan’s stylish indie film ABSENTIA
probably isn’t for you. But if you enjoy a horror
film that not only frightens but haunts you long after
the closing credits have rolled, then ABSENTIA
is a film that should be at the top of your ‘Must
See’ list.
Filmed
on location in urban Los Angeles, Flanagan’s
measured, intelligent film introduces Callie
(Katie Parker) and Trisha (Courtney Bell),
two sisters who re-engage after Trisha’s
husband, missing for seven years, is about to be declared
‘dead in Absentia.’ Callie, a
recovering drug addict, is there to support her sister
and Trisha is reluctantly being forced to
face the inevitable fact that there is no trace of
her husband, and that he is not going to return to
her. As they begin to re-establish their relationship,
with Callie’s practicality butting
heads with Tricia’s difficulty in letting
go of the past, a creeping awareness of something
else … something not right …
is going on around them. Other people have disappeared
in the neighbourhood. There is something eerie about
a tunnel near their home. Things begin to happen
…
Director
and writer Mike Flanagan is a master of the slow burn.
His sharp, crisp script is reminiscent of 1940s film
noir, both in its editing and its dialogue, with
not one wasted word or shot. But he still allows the
story to build, layer upon layer, and the scares,
when they come, are breath-stopping and swift. There
isn’t a false scare in the film, and when the
creeping evil begins to make itself felt it is not
only very frightening but lingering, like an unidentified
but sinister shadow in a snapshot.
What
I found especially gratifying as the film unfolded
on screen was not only the genuine fear engendered
by a well-thought-out storyline, but also the tale
of two very different women, bound by blood but who
have both fought their own demons. This relationship
is beautifully written by Flanagan, who creates characters
that are honest and flawed, but both of whom are so
very likeable and multi-faceted.
He is
very ably supported by a terrific cast, especially
the two leads, Katie Parker and Courtney Bell, who
gift their characters with such humanity that every
moment rings true. Their evocation of sisterhood in
all its brittle familiarity goes a long way to giving
ABSENTIA its heart, and their love of one
another despite their differences makes an enormous
contribution to the film’s impact.
The rest
of the cast are equally impressive, including Dave
Levine’s big, tough-but-decent cop with a heart
… Morgan Peter Brown as missing husband Daniel
who can creep you out without saying a word …
and, of course, Doug Jones, whose scene as one of
the ‘disappeared’ really accelerates the
miasma of fear that permeates the film like a clinging
mist.
But what
I liked most of all is Flanagan’s confidence
in making a film that takes its time to build, to
create an atmosphere of uneasy dread, to truly frighten
by depicting an evil that has no purpose – it
just is. There are no declarative statements,
no explanations, no reasons as to why this unseen
thing does what it does. It doesn’t need
a reason. For once a film doesn’t insult its
audience’s little grey cells by explaining everything
to them. Even when the last image has faded away,
that cold feeling of dread still lingers.
Made
with a very limited budget – it was partly funded
by money raised through the Kickstarter funding platform
- ABSENTIA is a very rare thing … a
well-crafted, thoughtful and beautifully-balanced
film that winkles its way through the chinks in the
cynical armour that audiences seem to wear these days.
It proves the point that the less you see, the more
frightening it is, and Flanagan and his talented cast
and crew prove that premise with immense flair. If
he can bring such quality filmmaking to the screen
with little money, imagine what he could do with a
bigger budget. The mind boggles.
ABSENTIA
has been picked up by Phase 4 Films and will receive
a video-on-demand premiere July 1st, followed by a
DVD release later in the year.
Helen
R. Chavez
Webmaster, The Doug Jones Experience
10th May, 2011
