Ugh, talk about a convoluted mess of a story that tries to be multiple things but ends up being nothing. The Ghost Within had a promising premise, the trailer showcasing traits of a ghost story like The Grudge in terms of effects and storyline, a mystery to be solved, but it just flops all the way with its bad development.
Director Lawrence Fowler being a Best Feature Film winner in the British Horror Award for The Jack in the Box (2019) - which later became a franchise; and the fact that Lawrence is prominent in horror -, I would expect better quality. But The Ghost Within is just full of failed attempts to get something going.
The story follows Margot Richardson, a traumatized adult coping with some event from her childhood that she blocked in her mind. She wants closure to move on (and also to avoid getting locked up in an asylum), so she is determined to get back to her childhood house and let her mind unblock itself to reveal the ultimate truth about her sister's murder.
A murder mystery that drives a ghost, haunting story. Pretty cool concept and one that works. But that is the only redeeming factor about this movie, everything else just goes downhill.
For starters, Margot is annoying as hell. Yes, yes, she needs psychological help, but she just plays it out by being a huge b-rather than clinically unstable. Her dialogues are either too expository or mumbo jumbo nonsense to get what she wants, without any real depth to her character other than just showing that she is, well, annoying.
Speaking of exposition, the way the story exposes facts is right on our faces. So, Margot and her husband Mason (Margot and Mason, M and M? Okay....) move to Margot's inherited childhood house so she can just wait for her mind to flip and reveal its hidden secrets. Everything seems to be left as it was, I don't remember if someone was living there and died right before she was able to move in, or if the house was just left like that for some 20 years, who knows, but the fact is that everything is just sitting there, untouched, clean and sound. Some expository newspaper clippings are also available there somehow, I wonder who left it there for our main character to find it out and read some expository news revealing some facts about the murder.
Margot also does a fine job explaining things to her husband Mason, which somehow has no idea with whom he has married to. I mean, I'm married, and my wife know a lot of stuff about my past and vice-versa. Hell, how come Margot was able to hide that she came from a wealthy family, considering her father was trialed for murder, a famous one in the story, is beyond me. But, hey, let's let it slide for the sake of character motivations.
One redeeming factor is the horror element. Yeah, it is Jumpscare Town, but some of the effects are pretty cool. After The Grudge and The Ring, I have a crush on entities that walk like freaking spiders.
However, the story itself is too convoluted.
Margot is on reactive mode for most of the storyline. When she takes some action, we are introduced to a paranormal investigation subplot that ends in nothings.
In fact, all subplots end in nothing. Mason's subplot ends in the most absurd way. The paranormal subplot, as aforementioned, also ends without closure. Same goes for supporting characters' subplots.
Which then should lead us to the main plot, a predictable ending and the quickest char dev ever finishing the movie abruptly and unsatisfactory.
Wrap 103min of movie runtime with Michaela Longden's horrible acting - probably misdirection from Lawrence - and you get this s---show. Seriously, the acting is subpar to the point that I wanted to punch the pillow or something.
The Ghost Within fails in all aspects, an unrevised, unfinished subproduct that required better polishing and better tie-in. If it were to focus on developing the main plot on top of Margot's development, it would be predictable but at least solid. In its current state, unbearable.
