The Endless (2017) was an excellent new take on time-weirding and psychological horror. This film, Resolution, was made first by the same guys, and is set in the same universe/physical landscape. There is a scene in The Endless where this story shows up. If I were making a recommendation I'd definitely watch The Endless first. The two stories are more or less side-by-side physically and overlapped in terms of time... which you'll know is a weird thing to say if you've seen The Endless anyway. But The Endless is a much slicker and more nuanced exploration of the ideas, and I think taking those understandings to Resolution makes this story stronger.
Like it's successor, this film starts very slowly. It's mostly a tight cabin fever about a guy who heads to the sticks, chains his drug-addicted bestie to the wall of a cabin and hangs out while the guy detoxes. But while he's killing time he starts finding the creepy recordings... of old occultist looking things... then of the modern day. There's both the angry drug-dealers and the cranky owners of the cabin they're squatting in causing drama.
And then there's the haunted landscape. I love a haunted landscape possibly more than I love a haunted house... and this is particularly cool cause it invokes geological weirding. It's nowhere near as slick as The Endless for this, so again, having that level of detail helps this seem more fun, even if some of the cool effects don't appear here. What this one does have, that again, I think is cooler in this order, is a greater sense of the viewer as the omnipotent and controlling presence. In this we are firmly in the Cthulhu hot-seat as the film descends or ascends fully into it's creepy space. In some ways it makes elements of The Endless appear in a whole new light.
It is a tight little film, kind of average looking but with some cool moments. Definitely needs to be a companion to The Endless. For bringing such a cool story a whole new side-bubble dimension, it's strong. But saddle up for a lot of two guys talking in a cabin.
J* gives it 4 stars.
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j* Movie Reviews 2019
HumorSpoilery recounts? Hilarious reviews? Serious takes? Just want to know what one female film reviewer who likes action thinks about the latest release? My collection of reviews from the releases of 2019.
