Archons

I'm actually kind of annoyed. At the beginning of the film I said "wow even if nothing happens I could look at the scenery the whole time and still be pleased." That is until I started really desiring to know the whole mystery and honestly there was no actual ending. There was no question answered. The movie made no sense, the characters were terrible actors and their interactions more frustrating than not knowing what was happening in the storyline. I'm pretty lenient with movies but this was just a very pretty turd. Gorgeous scenery, the characters seemingly looked their parts, it should've been fairly easy but no. The effects were terrible too, from the monsters to the headless wooden dummy sitting in the shower. Yeah I saw that wooden hand, we all did.... Disappointing considering the director previously made a movie alot of people really likes. I expected better. And you should too. Very slow burn, very frustrating to watch.

I usually rate movies worse than the IMDb rating, this is one of the more glaring exceptions. I liked Black Mountain Side from the director and this one is in the same slow building atmospheric Lovecraft subgenre. It's not perfect, actors and pacing could have been better, but Szostakiwskyj creates a one of a kind mood, I very much enjoy, especially in the later half of the movie. I really hope we get more films of this kind from him!

If your into isolated location/horror strange creature films and accept these types of films for what they are, then this is defiantly worth a watch, i quite enjoyed it.

If you expect oscar winning acting from every film and are the sort of person to pick at small things, probaly not for you.

The ending makes this movie somewhat clear, "Where are your friends?" "I'm waiting for them to catch up.", in the sense of what the writer/director was going for, but the script itself does not work, or is not as clear as they thought or think it is. It's tough for writers to imagine what they see as symbolic or metaphorical is actually perceived by their audience. Sometimes they are "too close" to the work to evaluate it properly. That is why authors let friends/family/editors read or view their works before they publish/release them. If these reviewers are sychophants, then we end up with this kind of work because no one tells the author the truth, that the symbols/ideas need some retooling. There are good ideas here, and I wish the creators had taken more time to get good feedback. It won a best movie award. Why? Because all too often when people don't understand something, they think it must be great because the creator is intelligent. There are serious problems with this film that could be fixed. Maybe those clarifying elements are lying on the cutting room floor. They certainly are not in the final product.

I had high hopes for this film - Nick Szostakiwskyj's previous offering, *Black Mountain Side*, is a criminally underrated folk horror. But there's no story here, no continuity or coherence, no attempt to explore the mythology. I'm still not entirely sure what I just watched.

Edit: It is better on a second watch, but only slightly. Yes, it's beautifully shot. Yes, the audio is great. Yes, the actors are on point. I guess I either wanted to know more about the nature of the threat or see less of it.