Don't Leave Home

While movies like Hereditary and It Follows get praise for being slow eerie movies, this movie takes it to an international level by creating a creepy story around an Irish urban legend, which is terrifyingly realistic.

The Celtic setting of the movie creates an unbelievably uncomfortable atmosphere which transcends in the incredible soundtrack. The directing is over average, but I do agree it's nothing less than cheesy at some points. But the clever 70's style of certain shots does the job of bringing us back into this eerie world.

The acting is also very good, especially for an indie. It's hard to know who you can trust and it's great to see a main actress that doesn't sound or look like the dumb little damsel in distress.

Overall, it's a movie that comes very close to being a classic, maybe only taken back from the fact that it lacks true novelty and, without being predictable, doesn't bring anything new to the table. I'd recommend it to anyone who loves slow burners with a spiritual background that doesn't try too hard to be its own thing and just lets things flow, making for a realistic, downright creepy story.

This is really an intriguing little horror gem. It centers on an artist from America who creates a series of sculptures based on famous missing person cases. One of them spotlights a priest whom painted a portrait of a young girl who ended up disappearing both from her home and the picture. The priest contracts her with the promise to buy her piece inspired by him, commission a new work and have all her pieces sold to wealthy investors at a private auction. Upon arriving strange things begin to happen including strange dreams and weird happenings that lead her to believe the offer isn't genuine and something more sinister is afoot. It all leads up to a shocking and unexpected conclusion. It's definitely a religious horror film but plays like a strange Lynchian thriller. It's not perfect the pacing is a struggle at times but it has an engaging, dread induced atmosphere that feels otherworldly at times.

3.5/5

The concept is a good one but it lacked detail in the presentation.

The actors were excellent, presenting believable well-rounded characters, and technical aspects of the film were well executed.

But this film lacks anything really memorable or intense enough to invoke any feeling about it. A series of events happen - some making no sense - the end.

There really isn't much drama in the film let alone any suspense or anticipation, and that is where (I think) the problem is. It lacks intensity to accompany the fine characters.

Events that do happen are not really explored or exploited to being drama to the story. Some of them happen with no lead in or lead out as to why they happen.

One excellent point is that at least they had what looked like proper tea brewed instead of the yellow insipid muck film makers often try to pass off for the beverage.

It's not a bad film, and it is watchable. You just won't take much away from it.

This one's a dark mystery of a child disappearance in rural Ireland, but with a visiting American as the lead. It's beautifully shot, with lots of awesome scenery and a wonderful, creepy setting. It's well written, well acted and with a fairly likable lead. No kills, no gore, no sex, no nudity, probably not even any swearing, and it's only somewhat disturbing, but with some very haunting and effective scenes and what I felt was a great ending. There is some extremely brief comic relief in the form of a very creepy, silent, Lurch-looking butler. I recommend it, but it's absolutely a slow one with no kind of action, so just be prepared for an atmospheric mind bender that may be hard to understand and will absolutely confound a great many people who watch it.

After reading other reviews I was ready for a slow burn, atmospheric, movie set in Ireland. While the pace was slow, it never stalled. There are no jump scares. This is a thinking persons movie. I enjoyed it very much. The ending was perfect. If you want something grizzly and fast paced, there are plenty of those out there. This movie required a little thought and patience. The plot stayed true and maintained credibility.