An interesting case for me - an unlikely indie I saw on the local big screen on Halloween eve, it was shown here because the movie is shot almost entirely in the country I live in (Latvia), mainly in the 19th century Cesvaine Palace, where I've also been. I was very intrigued upon hearing about it - I had no idea there was such a project. It's hard to understand how much bias I possess criticizing "The Sonata", but it was indeed quite enjoyable.
"The Sonata" starts off with a pretty cool POV style intro and the late Rutger Hauer himself, the first half of the movie we spend mostly listening to a lot of story building dialogue, getting to know the archaic but decent characters, and also enjoying decent original score that's almost a character itself. The atmosphere feels gothic, misty, at times spooky and at times like its reaching for something but not quite achieving it. All the performances are commendable, I especially enjoyed the one by Simon Abkarian. The second half is the better half, things start to escalate more, atmosphere gets more dense, there are one or two actually good jumpscares and a somewhat lacking but acceptable climax. Cinematography's fine for the most part, the main location is utilised competently & effectively, even the cgi used managed to not cross the line of cheese.
The story as a whole is nothing new really, it might make you reminisce about better interpretations of the same thing, but with a pinch of occult themes, a splash of cleverly included music "The Sonata" offers a decent entertainment for anyone who enjoys ghost stories, paranormal horror, gothic mood pieces and classical music. As for me, the additional value was to see places & nature that's very familiar to me get used in probably the biggest horror movie ever filmed in this small country. My rating: 6/10.
