The Unbinding

Ok, I can see from other reviews that this documentary was a labor of love for many and tells a story that is clearly very important to its community. I totally respect that.

I think that you get from it what you bring to it. It invites you to go along for a journey. It doesn't force anything on you, and you have to pay attention.

If you like intentional, slow-burn stuff, especially the original Wicker Man with Christopher Lee, this is potentially up your alley. You can sit back and try to find the cracks in the facade and play the "Wait, how much of this do they actually believe?" game and still have a really good time with this film, but keeping your cynicism at bay for an hour or two gives the best experience.

If you are tired of seeing the same old story/format over and over and over again, give this a try. It's rare to find something that is truly different and it's genuinely hard to categorize. Let this one in.

Like I said in the title, I knew nothing about this film before watching it. It popped up on some random Amazon Prime list when I was in the mood for a horror movie, I googled the name and saw the RT and IMDB scores were decent, and I watched it.

Looking at the reviews here, I have learned that the cast are actual real-life paranormal investigators, with a sizable fandom and a smattering of detractors (who seem to be duking it out in the reviews).

And I am very confused. I keep trying to write a review, deleting it all, and starting over.

I 100% thought it was a mockumentary. I'm still not sure that it isn't. I mean, I think it's certainly fiction, because I think paranormal stuff isn't real (sincerely sorry, not attempting to bash people's beliefs).

But, I don't know if the cast also think it's not real. I mean, obviously they think paranormal stuff is real. But did these events happen? Or are they just a story they're telling? Or are they dramatizing something that kind of happened, and they're fancying it up with little creepy vignettes?

And is this a deceptive thing? Like, are they positing that this is a 100% true story, and we're supposed to believe it's 100% true?

Or, is it a real story that's been kind of dramatized for the film, and we're supposed to know that it is?

Or, are these ghost hunters who are telling us a creepy fictional story, and we're supposed to know that it's just a fictional story?

What level am I supposed to be watching this on?!

When I thought this was a mockumentary, I thought it was pretty good. Naturalistic dialogue, great restraint with the scary parts, really believable relationships. I even thought some of the bit characters, like the Russian Studies professor, were fantastic actors.

Of course, now that I know it's real, it's really thrown me for a loop. I think that, if I were to watch it again through that lens, I might have an entirely different take on the film. When I thought these people were actors, I thought they were doing a fantastic job. Now that I know they're actual paranormal investigators, I think it's kind of embarrassing, and more than a little self-aggrandizing.

When I was still ignorant to the nature of the film, I thought all the goddess/folklore talk at the end of the movie was kind of smarmy and boring. I'm not a big fan of Horror movies that have a moralistic, happy ending. Basically, if the evil spirit gets put to rest, and the heroes live to fight another day, and we all learned something valuable, I'm not usually a big fan.

But the rest of the film was fine, so I gave it a pass.

But now, knowing that these people aren't actors, isn't that kind of....self-aggrandizing? They really believe they helped an ancient Slavic goddess? It's one thing to have a character say all this saccharine dialogue about beliefs and stuff, it's another thing entirely to just...say it.

In its favour, the movie is entertaining and presents a "story" pretty well. It relies a lot in the confusing / missing information as to maintain the expectation and mystery.

Viewers are scratching their heads to make sense of it. That was well done. It maintains the focus.

On the negative side, the story is too weird and cringy. The ancient being manipulates things around in a magic way, too magic and too directly.

There are funny/silly parts such as when they carefully wrap the statue and lock the padlock carefully as to not disturb the entity and later they carry the box to the hill hanging it from the back while the box swings side to side... too much for carefully manipulating the statue...haha The "witch" is doing a great role as the "wisdom" talker and at times she says things darn well.

I think it is entertaining although it falls into the typical ghost / mystery enchanted objects movie but without the silly techniques other movies resource to.

I enjoyed it. I was hesitant after reading the negative reviews, but I'm glad I watched it. In some ways, this is a typical ghost hunting "documentary" - meaning, of course there's no evidence. Some reviewers seemed surprised there's no irrefutable proof of ghosts here. There never is - there's no scientific peer reviewed journal about to publish a paper on ghosts. You can't prove gods or ghosts are real, that's the root of people's fascination, and kind of the whole point.

What isn't typical about the Newkirks' approach is that they're not afraid to get into the weird complexities. I can't stand typical ghost hunting shows but this is much deeper. They dive into the psychological muck, take their time getting the emotional experience and tone right. They research everything and show how gooey myth and folklore are. It's cool to watch them piece together their research and experiences - no matter what I personally believe. Yea it's their cognitive bias but so is every single religious or supernatural experience. Regardless, I followed their logic. They touch on magic and the collective unconscious and tie it all together. They might have the goofy tools other ghost hunters have, but they use them in unique ways, and that's only the surface of what they do.

Even if this is all staged, it's still a good story. It's impossible to say what they actually believe, so I can't speculate on their intentions, but it was cool to learn about a goddess I didn't know about before. And I really like what Strand said about how studying the paranormal is like studying yourself. It's true. I think they manage to touch on something ancient that is a key part of the human experience we don't often get to connect with.

I didn't come out of this believing in ghosts or gods. What I got out of this was entertainment and I learned something new. And I did get a little spooked!

This is quite blatantly a scripted, fiction film, that is- for some reason- listed here as a "documentary".

It's not.

And is quite clear about that fact.

That being said...the reasons for this become obvious when you learn who the filmmakers behind the project are: the husband and wife team of Greg and Dana Newkirk.

A couple who run a museum and podcast dedicated to haunted objects, and stories about haunted objects.

So...this is effectively just an elaborate marketing pitch, and call for you to send them your claimed to be haunted items for free...so they can put it in their museum, and make bank off it.

Now...I do believe in haunted objects...I have a painting called "Evil Man", which has a demonic entity attached to it.

So...I am by no means a skeptic.

However...the story presented here- about an effigy found in the Catskills mountain, with nails driven into the eyes, that is said to be haunted a "Crone" type entity- is quite absurd.

And backed by no evidence whatsoever...other than unfounded, unreliable, unreplicatable "ghost hunting" techniques that can easily be dismissed.

As previously noted...when all is said and done, it's actually quite clear that the whole thing is scripted.

They not only allude to this fact...but even poke fun at it.

So, as a documentary...it has zero value.

Though, as a mockumentary...you might argue it's cleverly done.

That is...if you ignore that it's mainly a feature length commercial for themselves, and their museum.

Acting as a desperate plea for you to send them your thought to be haunted objects.

So it doesn't deserve anything more than a 2.5 out of 10.

Which is being generous.