Flowers is a 2015 surreal horror film, written and directed by Phil Stevens. Phil's freshman feature film is highly experimental in nature, centering around six dead girls who seem to have awoken in the crawlspace below the house of the serial killer responsible for taking their lives. Oh, and it's told without any dialogue at all.
The film takes its time, exploring the characters intimately. It feels very voyeuristic in nature, getting to know "the flowers", as they are called, by observing how they react in silence and alone as they begin to wake and travel through the house. Every one of their actions is an appeal to your emotions, propelling the dialogue without words.
Through morbidly beautiful and intricately detailed sets, you also get a sense of who their murderer is as a person. The picture that's painted is not one of a serial killer you're familiar with, but a profoundly original and well thought out type of disgusting psychopath who will inspire pure visceral revulsion.
The plot of the film lacking dialogue causes an openness for interpretation that allows you to derive any meaning you wish from the plight of the girls and the motivations of their murderer. The visuals assure that your mind is driven into its darkest recesses, causing the perception of guttural fear and discomfort.
Flowers is an inspiringly original piece that will haunt you while your eyes are open. There simply exists nothing to compare it to — an increasingly rare phenomenon in the modern era of the genre.
