A slow and bleakly claustrophobic thriller, this film does the best with intimate scope and small spaces while suffering for a languid pace. The setup evokes a twilight zone episode, The Howling Man, but on a more intimate level. Nothing in this movie will subvert expectation, but the stark visuals are memorably framed. There is a visible affinity for 90’s horror, but the movie never stagnates in nostalgia, instead focusing on building its own paranoia and tone. The film is rather effective at this, with excellent sound and sets augmenting an intense mystery and character breakdown. The director demonstrates a keen visual eye the capability of building and establishing strong creepy atmospherics. Unfortunately, while successfully building strong dread and tension, the movie takes far too long to capitalize, dragging on and seeming indefinitely. Where the movie is more focused on tight moments and mental turmoil, the cast is quite good, but the payoff doesn’t quite satisfy. Other than some memorable visuals and some quality performances, there is little to complement other than a promising start to a hopefully enduring career for all parties involved.
I Trapped The Devil (2019)