Until Dawn: Bizarre and grisley set pieces overcome cliches.

⭐⭐⭐

Rob Ryan

It's very easy to be cynical whenever a movie like Until Dawn pops in our screens, a mainstream horror release one that is also a video game adaptation that I have also never played. My inclination usually is to look it with critical eyes, nitpicking every cheesy moment in the dialogue, acting or even predicting when the next stinger in the score is gonna pop you out of your seat, while I could easily write a negative review of this and be done with it, at a certain point in the viewing experience a thought came to my head, it read "You know what, none of us would do well in this scenario either"

This mindset allowed me to let go of my inclinations and enjoy the many scenarios and bizarre set pieces that get more and more bizarre as the movie goes on. Yes, the narrative get's somewhat mirky by the end and leaves more questions than answers, yes, some of the early scenes are filled with groan worthy and tired horror movie tropes, from the gas station pit stop to a quiet moment involving a prayer circle that is predictably broken by a fake out jump scare (in this case our heroes are almost run over by an RV) and even I would have the common sense to not drink the F***ing water, (to explain why would spoil the movie) but once the plot finally gets going, that is when I started to have fun.

The aforementioned prayer circle is formed by Megan (Ji-young Yoo) the obligatory psychic of the group because her friend Clover (Ella Rubin) had a sister (Maia Mitchell) who went missing roughly in the area near the gas station a year ago and thought it would provide some much needed comfort, her other friends include her on and off boyfriend Max (Michael Cimino) who's actions involve moving towards self moving rocking chair just to stop it rocking rather than get the hint and run away, (he is either really brave or stupid, you decide) and couple Nina (Odessa A'zion) and Gabe (Belmont Cameli) the latter of which has a car they use to drive to the house that a not at all suspicious gas station attendant (Peter Stormare) explains to Clover thats where her sister was heading, when they reach the house not far away, against their best judgement not before driving through a rainstorm, they encounter a bizarre weather phenomenon as the rain circles the house never getting the entire estate soaked. That's not all, As they explore the house, the group are picked off one by one by a masked killer, but then they wake up at the exact point when the hourglass decked to the wall, turns by itself and starts again. In short they become trapped in a time loop, with each new scenario facing a new threat on top of the masked killer.

This all sounds convoluted and it had the potential to become repetitive but director David F Sandberg keeps playing his hand by having each new scenario more gristly and gruesome than the last, Sandberg along with production designer Jennifer Spence conjure some surprising atmosphere in the many sets that appear in every new scenario and each one rich with detail and convincing in their potential for death, and me being easily affected by loud noises I will admit to hollering my ears at key moments. I can't help it, I'm autistic.

I also appreciated that the characters were not entirely unlikeable, some of theme had moments of wit, intelligence and gumption that put them above your average archetype which intern makes you root for them to survive, this isn't entirely nihilistic, this isn't a horror movie that ends with a fake out that reinforces the hopelessness of their situation, when they adapt and survive, they actually adapt and survive. The best actor in the film is easily Odessa A'zion who I remember as the protagonist in the Hellraiser remake, she is able to display a range of emotions from fear to determined so convincingly that it might have been more compelling if she where the lead.

This being a horror movie in the 2020s there also has to be a grief/trauma angle and compared to other horror movies recently some of which previously reviewed it is more woven into the narrative more naturally in a way that makes sense. Sure it takes a long time to get to that point but compared to other horror movies that only use it to conceal the fact that their movies lack any sort of meaning, this angle plays a role in dictating how the mechanics of this bizarre realm operates in keeping its characters afraid and helpless thus giving the evil forces an upper hand.

A great horror movie this isn't but a fun Friday night binge watch it is, its in the other end of the universe to Sinners, one of the best movies of the year, and I can't speak on how faithful it is to the games but in an age of slop and horror movies only there to fill in a time slot, you could do far worse.