[Rausch]

Originally Posted by Baby Lee

Finally got around to this, and it is fantastic, though not in ways people might expect.

I think that the strongest aspect of the movie is how it blends the supernatural with the plausible and mundane. It's very current in the matters of gaslighting, miscommunication, and past resentments hindering current healing.

I'm not going to be too concerned about spoilers, but I will be as vague as is tenable. So for those still seeking a pristine experience, this is for viewers who have seen it, not a recommendation for the uninitiated.

Clearly, dark, otherworldly and determined forces are amassed against this family. But for a significant chunk of the movie it remains firmly in the shadows and on the periphery. This allows the narrative to stew in the poor communication within a family and the destruction it can cause even in the absence of malevolent forces.

We are much more shook living for a moment inside the mindset of a kid responsible for his sister's death than we are unsettled by the fireworks at the end. We are most confused and discombobulated trying to do the calculus of the father trying to make sense of seeming nonsense, even as it grows more and more dangerous and destructive all around him, than we are straight shook by the bump scares and shadows.

Not every family will be sacrificed to the ascension of a dark lord. But every family has secrets and strife and resentments bourne of shame and trauma. This makes it unsettlingly relatable as a family drama just as much as it is unsettlingly unrealistic as a supernatural tale.

One thing I did like from a stylistic/atmospheric sense, in stark opposition to traditional jump scares, a lot of the horror in this movie is the view slowly realizing the gravity of what is happening. So many horrors lurk in nooks and crannies and corners unremarked until your senses register them. Related to that, the director makes ample use of suspense by visual through strict control of the camera blocking and movement.

It's almost like it's a commentary on how genetics and ghosts of the past both play a role in the future (of Hollywood cinema)...