The Lodge (2019)

There are good films, there are bad films and there are films that are convinced they belong to the Louvre when they are nought but self-indulgent, boring claptrap. You guessed right, you smarty pants film buff. The Lodge fits right into the latter category. It aims at being an intelligent, wonderfully filmed and acted, slow-burner but ends up being the intellectual equivalent of someone who ate a double portion of beans and unwittingly locked himself in a closet.

Fmovies: I was quite excited with this movie and just saw it at the Lisbon International Horror Filme Festival.

In fact, this movie seemed really brilliant on its first half, building tension and causing some doubts on the audience about the existence of paranormal stuff going on or not. The problem is exactly the storyline, really confusing and lacking some explanations on the second half of the movie and the slow pace.

Final twist was expected to save the day but it was the opposite.

Movies that rely on obvious means of conveying fright are criticised for utilising "cheap scares". While those that build atmosphere and tension such as this title are called "boring and nonsensical". As a charitable fan of all things horror I can appreciate everything this genre encompasses if it's executed decently. Maybe not so much when it comes to slashers and torture features.

The Lodge is a slow burner that sets an unnerving mood pretty effectively. There is a trail of breadcrumbs that although was initially slightly puzzling had the effect to keep my interest peaked right until the twist. The movie weaves ideas such as grief, resentment and trauma into a very good guessing game. Yes, it's been done before but in my opinion this time around felt better. Maybe it was because of the acting, which I really enjoyed, perhaps the choice of setting even. Or maybe due to how the pieces of the puzzle weren't made to fall into place neither forcefully nor conveniently. My biggest surprise was that the twist reveal, which happened after roughly 2 thirds of the movie, wasn't the only payoff. Instead the movie added a karmic resolution on top, that although unsettling, made absolute sense. I honestly don't know what the angry reviewers watched but they might want to keep the insults towards the directors of this movie to a minimum if they can't be objective. As for parallels to other films, honestly besides minimal similarities to Goodnight Mommy (same directors after all) I couldn't see anything else. There is also the whole "entertain multiple possibilities until the reveal" type of storytelling that I previously mentioned. Another theme The Lodge explores is the dark side of religion that could have contributed to, in my opinion, the unfairly low rating of this movie.

For me The Lodge hit the spot with its creepy atmosphere, bleak overtones and the subdued but true to the situation way of acting. Sadly these very same aspects might have displeased some viewers.

The Lodge fmovies. I am not surprised at all at the negative reviews. This movie starts well, sets up the story well and then falls flat so hard it's like taking the popcorn out of the oven as soon as one pops - it smells nice, but in reality you're left with only hard, tasteless kernels.

Let's address the elephant in the room. This is NOT an intelligent movie. However, it does have enough pretentious cinematography to make some people think it is. That being said I am a fan of said cinematography AS A SET UP, but not as your entire substance. I have no idea why some people are calling this innovative as it simply isn't. Long drawn out shots of a darkened empty hallway or a window while someone frantically plucks at an untuned violin and radio-filtered whispers is neither ground-breaking not original. Yes, it's uncomfortable so overdoing it will elicit an emotional reaction, which some people mistake for the effect of good writing.

Now, beyond the elephant. The story goes absolutely nowhere. If the movie is original with anything it's that the ending is so mediocre and so little attempt has been made to make it interesting that it's a rarity in the genre. If you know there is no twist ending you can guess the finish a good 15 minutes after the word go. The characters are profoundly unlikable aside from the dad, who appears briefly at the beginning and the end. There is "creepy" scenes which go nowhere and have absolutely no explanation, nor do they contribute to the plot (I am looking at you 100 snow angels).

That being said I do appreciate movies which try to at least get part of the equation right and this one, as stated above, has a good first part. Now, if only movie-makers learned that you need to know how to finish a story too. So, while I wouldn't wholeheartedly recommend it, if you're into eating only the first couple of popcorns of the bunch and being disappointed by the rest, go for it. Just be warned - the moment you start asking yourself "ok so where is this all going" is the moment when you know the movie is well past its peak".

This movie is relatively good. Movie goers cannot seem to watch movies for what they are now but constantly need to analyze and compare elements of the movie to other films. This movie is a little on the slower side. If you like slow building, psychological thrillers, this one is for you.

The Lodge has been a rather divisive point between critics and audiences, audiences have been more split on the film while critics have been more inclined to view the film favorably. This is not a movie made for a mass horror audience like the films made by Blumhouse or Atomic Monster, rather this is a character study with a no holds barred approach to its themes of lingering trauma and toxic religiosity. The film follows Aiden(Jaeden Martell) and Mia(Lia McHugh) who after the suicide of their mother Laura(Alicia Silverstone) live with their father Richard(Richard Armitage) and soon to be stepmother Grace (Riley Keough). Richard, needing to work through the holiday season arranges for the two to spend time with Grace at lodge in the woods that they frequent in the hopes that they will bond, but once there strange happenings coupled with the lingering resentment and bitterness felt by Aiden and Mia towards Grace for their mother's suicide a slow decent into terror begins.

The Lodge as horror film is very effective at building its mood and atmosphere. The titular lodge becomes a character itself with its empty halls, surrounding frozen landscapes, and generally sense of foreboding created by its minimal lighting and cavernous nature. Be it in the dark of the night or the light of day there is never any sense of comfort felt while in the lodge and a general feeling of unease permeates the film.

The characters aren't written with much in the way of depth, but they do effectively convey the feelings we expect given the circumstances. The crushing despair felt during the opening act's funeral, the mixture of boredom, restlessness, and unease felt during the second act, and finally the sheer terror and resignation that serves as the penultimate lead up to the films final moments. It's a movie where the minimalism is put to good use because it respects its audience enough not to through in a jump scare every few minutes.

The overall narrative deals with heavy themes of grief and religion as the two kids, Aiden and Mia, are devout Catholics as raised by their deceased mother Laura. Grace herself has distanced herself from religion later in life as her involvement with a extremist Christian cult left her with lingering trauma that serves as another point of contention between herself and the children. A key point in which the religious themes come into play is because the children are Catholic they believe their mothers soul will never be able to find peace.

The Lodge uses its themes of religiosity sparingly, and it's not so much of an indictment of religion itself, but more of the followers of said religions who twist what was once a well meaning doctrine into justification for acts of ugliness and barbarism that while not as explicitly graphic as your average Saw or Hostel film leave a haunting emptiness once we bear witness to the proceedings.

With that said however this movie will not be to everyone's taste. The movie is a slow burn with long stretches broken up by the occasional nightmare or sudden noise and there's very little dialogue among the characters so the audience will need to actively look for character in subtle interactions rather than through conversation. The films use of religious iconography may also seem insulting to some who feel themselves to be among the faithful but with that said I don't believe this film to carry any ill will towards the majority of Christians and it's more about those who twist the doctrine as justification for heinous