Bleed with Me

Three characters that I didn't like and didn't care for. Uninteresting back-stories for each of them. Within half an hour I was hoping they'd all die in horrible ways. Instead, they all got so miserable and dreary that I lost interest in whether or not they'd die. It was *that* boring.

This is the particular type of indie horror movie that aims for "evocative" but ends up "dull." There are endless closeup shots of characters' faces in which we're meant to read all sorts of emotions or glean information, but it's impossible to tell what they're going for.

If there were a meaningful resolution to the whole thing, it might retroactively make the whole movie worth it. But it doesn't resolve, it just stops. I was left wondering what if anything the filmmaker was trying to say.

It's not a horror movie, it's a psychological movie. Get that out of the way first. A lot of reviewers are upset that there weren't zombies or vampires. And some seem upset about "diversity" and "women films," but we know where the come from so... yeah.

Both women in the cast are damaged in various ways, but one is definitely more damaged than the other, and the slow unfolding lets you know who that is (although I suppose there is some ambiguity if you would like to keep wondering at the end). I thought they did a great job of evolving the characters, dropping casually into the dialog little clues that explain the backstories and motivations of the characters.

Over all it is sad, not horrifying. It's not the greatest film ever made, but having spent a lot of Covid watching some truly terrible films, I thought this one was well worth the time spent watching.

All the technical aspects are fine. Marshall does a great job of portraying an awkward introvert. It's just that the overall story is very thin and stretched out slowly. Couple and a new friend go off to a cabin, there's talking, lots of talking, I get they're establishing the characters but this drags out. Anyway, it's a "is this really happening or am I crazy?" plot once it gets going, and it does that part well. There's just not much to it to make for a solid film.

To me yes there are some good concepts and ideas floating around somewhere in this slow burner... I appreciate this type of movie - that is a more slow moving, well shot psychological drama but sometimes... I mean I absolutely loved the Blackcoat's Daughter but this film is well short of that....

So sure, build to a crescendo... string us along... give us little bits and pieces and clues. This is why I give the movie a 5 because at times it was interesting and I'm wondering.. 'what is really going on here?'

For some here I read reviews that are happy with this film, and while not a total waste of time for me it just fell short. Less sometimes... is just less.