February - L'innocenza del male

February is a flawed film. It is also a fantastic film.

It takes place in the middle of a cold, snowy Canadian winter at an all-girls boarding school. The winter break is approaching and all the girls are picked up by their parents to spend a week at home. The exception is Kat (Kiernan Shipka), a very young girl whose parents don't show up and she begins to fear them dead, and Rose (Lucy Boynton), an older girl who has lied to her parents because she wanted to spend the break alone at the school. As time goes on, Kat gets more and more worried about her parents and acting stranger and stranger. Meanwhile, a couple of towns over, another young lady, Joan (Emma Roberts), escapes from a mental institution. She seems to be on the move toward the boarding school where the other two girls are. I would advise against seeing trailers or looking up anything further about the plot, this movie is best experienced with no preconceptions of the sub-genre or where it is going, because it leaves you most open to what it tries to do.

The magic of this movie is mostly in its extremely distinct mood, an almost undefinable aura or quality to it. All of the aspects of film making mirror the cold, snowy winter - music, the pace, the character interactions. The characters speak lazily, morbidly to each other, everything has a hint of cold tension underneath it. I've never seen a horror movie with this particular type of mood, and I always welcome unique experiences.

The script is also expertly crafted. I like how subtly the mystery is revealed to the viewer - it is not spoon-fed at any point, and it is quite well-concealed for at least the first half of the movie. We only get pieces that almost seem impossible to fit together, yet they come together in a perfectly obvious and coherent conclusion. On top of that, the story radiates an overwhelming sadness which elicited a very strong emotional response from me personally. Mostly due to Shipka's amazing acting, which stole every scene (the other two girls are great too, just overshadowed by the youngest cast member). She really captures the desolate emptiness required of her role.

The flaws are really mostly superficial, and a product of the fact that the movie was made by a relatively young cast. The director clearly has a good eye for morbid beauty, and he has made a movie that is much more artistic than the average horror, but I still found that some of his stylistic choices were cheesier and more generic than he seems to think they were. He's still a very talented guy, he just needs to find a more humble and grounded balance between innovation and reference. Still can't wait until he makes another horror though, I will definitely be following him!

It's an ambitious movie, and early on the scenes underscore that the scenes will emphasize the unspoken, with long, uncomfortable pauses. Shot mostly at night, and in a nonlinear method, it's very confusing at first, and the ending doesn't provide the payoff you're hoping for. Some reviews here try to fill in the gaps the filmmaker left, and it's unfortunate that that's needed. There's talent on the screen, and it's been wasted. Near the end there's an attempt to explain the murky as Satanism, with the local priest doing an exorcism, which isn't the norm, but it's like so many films that sculpt a dark mystery without a clear path out. A bit dismaying in the end. The British call this Too Clever by Half, ie, failure.

Im glad I found this movie; unfortunately it had a limited release and there was not much buzz about it. So when I found it, I did not expect much. But I couldn't have been more wrong. Although there is not much originality, it was well done and made me uncomfortable!

The tone of the movie was dreadful and was beautifully supported by the score, the cinematography, and the acting. The pace of the movie was slow, but the payoff was excellent. No cheap jump scares, the right amount of gore, and a clever plot.

Horror fans should definitely give this movie a watch!

DISCLAIMER: This film requires a patient viewer who likes slow burns and atmospheric dread rather than jump scares or thriller action. Many of the user reviews on here trash the movie for being too slow or too boring, but this movie was never meant to appeal to everyone. If you thought this was boring or too slow, everyone has different taste and that's fine.

First off, the biggest strength of this movie is the icy dread and unease that this movie produces from the opening scene right up to the tragic final shot. This tense atmosphere never relents, even during mundane scenes, and left that dread in the pit of my stomach for the entirety of the film. Everything feels like there's something not quite right with it.

The cinematography and lighting are dark and brooding, with every room dimly lit and every setting having a sinister feel. This dreary feel to all the scenes almost never lets up and keeps the dread at a maximum.

The sound design is quite good, using prolonged silence to make scenes feel uneasy and eerie sound effects and music to heighten tension and fear. This is one of the loudest quiet movies I've ever seen, and the subtle arctic winds blowing and faint whispers and static drone are masterfully used.

The setting and environment add another layer to the dread of the film. Set in remote upstate New York in the dead of winter, the deep snow is suffocating and chilling. You can really feel the isolation of the school where Kat and Rose are staying, and the school itself is creepy in its own right, with dark and foreboding hallways and a glum exterior.

The story is not spoon-fed to viewers and is a bit of a puzzle that reveals itself one brief detail at a time, and it can be confusing on the first viewing of it. It keeps you guessing as to what's happening, and has some twists that make you rethink what you saw. The plot is told in an odd fashion, with each main character having their own "arc" in a sense and lots of brief flashbacks by Joan and Kat. The ending is a good payoff for all the dread and tension built up, though a bit rushed. The final shot is beautiful and haunting, and has stuck with me ever since.

Kiernan Shipka is very creepy and unsettling as Kat, and gives the best performance in the film. Even those who did not like this movie gave Shipka props for a wonderful job done. Emma Roberts steps into a different role than she usually does, and does an excellent job as Joan. Her body language said more than the few lines she has. The rest of the cast also turns in solid performances, the acting in this is a great strength next to its atmosphere.

This is an excellent but polarizing slow burn non-traditional possession horror film, and is impressive for Osgood Perkins' directorial debut.

Much appreciated. Sophisticated and subtle. Great job in the sound department.

Those who have not witnessed Kiernan Shipka's talent in "Mad Men" will surely find here some convincing material to make up their minds. The other two main actresses were also remarkable, however for exclusively aesthetic reasons, I must add.

Concerning the plot, I believe it is important to emphasize its non linear nature : a key element to reconstruct the overall "Stimmung".

I must criticize the trailer, despite having been convinced by it to approach the movie in the first place; the allusions to "erotic charge" are deeply misleading and cast a negative influence on the viewers, distracting them from the main, yet hidden, theme of the movie : the Occult. I rarely experienced a more discrete and effectively symbolic handling of such a complicated and debated matter. The way the Occult's first appearance on the scene is connected to the principal plot twist is also deeply satisfying. The final scenes also need to be focused on : they both bring the missing pieces in the plot and offer an open, surprising end.

My only critic would regard the excessive abundance of implicit hermeticism : some traits of the story could and should have been properly expanded (Kat's parents, some more details about Rose, a more complete view of the boarding school, the true origins of Kat's "sickness", just to make a few examples).