After taking a night to think on it, I still really love it, despite my reservations about the stuff with Joan post-Annie. I've seen complaints that the drama-aspects of the film work better than the horror aspects, but I mostly completely disagree with those complaints. The initial seance scene with Joan and Annie is incredible. It taps into a sense of cosmic horror with actual stakes missing from most "seance" scenes. The one following also works beautifully, although for entirely different reasons. When the movie starts going full haunted house, it makes sense given everything that's happened before. Ari does a great job getting the two different genres to work symbiotically and it's in that latter half that the miracle really shows.
The complaints about the horror aspects also seem to ignore how this movie, with the horror elements removed, just wouldn't feel substantive. The explanations for Charlie's death would just feel too unbelievable. Without buying into Charlie's death, the movie flat out doesn't work. By laying down a small, but explicit, set of horror trappings prior to the death scene, we don't question Charlie's death because we already know it's pre-ordained by what Ellen's doing to her family.
Thank God for it too. Charlie's death is both one of the best plot devices in film, and one of the most devastating depictions of grief, despair, and regret I've ever seen. From the moment Peter recognizes what happened, to entering the house and hearing his parents say "Oh good, they're home safe", to lying in bed and waking the next morning to his mother's screams, I couldn't get my mind off it. I reminded me of times when I'd gotten into a car accident or felt like I'd done something that fundamentally changed everything for the worse. It reminded me when I warned someone not to do a given thing that could create terrible change, and it happened anyway, and all the anger that rushed through me when it happened. It reminded me of when I saw someone I love stricken so hard by the actions of someone else I love, and knowing that those actions hurt me too, but not knowing what to do about it. It's so fucking good at depicting that sort of awful thing on all of these relatable levels that, regardless of which character the movie followed at that moment, I was compelled.
I know everyone's gonna talk about Toni's acting regarding Annie, and that's entirely justified. The dream scene where she's talking to Peter about how she never wanted him but still loved him is so well done; however, something many are probably gonna overlook is her ability to sell when she's seeing something fantastic. I hate to go back to that first seance scene, but her expressions and reactions, in spite of Joan's joy, and in combination with the affecting score, really give you a feeling of legitimate dread. When she sees something she's not supposed to, her face always goes to just the right place. Like, don't get me wrong, the dinner scene is a great monologue point, but it's these moments that really help the audience buy into the premise in an effective manner. I also loved the camera work when she'd be sitting in a car, waiting, looking like the dead spirit lurking over her home. The other actors, particularly the actor playing Peter, will unfortunately be overlooked, but they're all amazing and do a wonderful job.
The score is mostly your typical "art-horror" fare. The sort of thing there more to augment mood than to stand out on its own. What does stand out is the sound design, which pulls off feats that I still don't fully understand. At one point, I thought the noises in the movie were actually coming from a completely different room due to the way they were mixed. There are one or two jump scare moments, but unlike movies like the Conjuring or the Insidious franchise (both of which I hold affection for), the noise that accompanies the scare is rarely overbearing.
Lastly, I've already written plenty about the ending, but I will say it sits with me better now. Part of my distaste for it had to do with being reminded of the ending of Rosemary's Baby (one of my least favorite endings in a movie I already find stuffy, dull, and air-headed); but it mostly stands on its own. The closing shot works, and seeing the creepy mutherfucker from the very beginning of the movie in the crowd is one of those tricks that just feels so good. The bowing/kneeling headless corpses of the parents are also pretty effective nightmare material. The ending is definitely the part that's going to get the most flack (similar to the way the ending of The Witch did, if not moreso); but I appreciate when a director really goes for a risk. It may not always work, but it should still be encouraged.
All in all, go see it. Then go see it again. Then go see it again. There's so much to pick apart and marvel at. So much to pick apart and examine. And so much to pick apart and find something awful, that it'll feel like a new level of reward each time.
