Spook Out! Day 22 ~ The Lodge (2019)

IMDb Says...
"A soon-to-be stepmom is snowed in with her fiancé's two children at a remote holiday village. Just as relations begin to thaw between the trio, some strange and frightening events take place."

I Say...
"Village" implies there are other folks nearby--there aren't. And as far as I could tell, relations never really thawed or perhaps things might've gone a bit differently...

Horror Type...
Psychological Horror, Thriller

Main Players...

Riley Keough as Grace (Childhood Trauma Survivor)

Jaeden Martell as Aiden Hall (Tech-Savvy Big Bro)

Lia McHugh as Mia Hall (Sweet Lil Sis)

I liked...

• the acting, which was phenomenal--really excellent work done by all (including Alicia Silverstone in an all-too-brief cameo)
• how the tension's at an "11" from the jump and doesn't let up and,
• that, though this is a slow-burn, I was engrossed straight away and throughout
• the atmospheric setting of the titular lodge

The Meh...

• The dad is a self-absorbed, unethical, thoughtless, irresponsible, selfish prick, and a disgrace to fatherhood. His fate was too good for him. Richard Armitage did such a great job in this role that he's almost put me off him completely.
• At one point we see Grace emerge from the shower, and she wraps a towel around her waist but leaves her breasts exposed. Gratuitous much? There was absolutely no need for that kind of exploitive bs.

Would I recommend it...?

I've lost count of how many podcasts I've had to listen to in order to process the ick The Lodge dredged up. This movie is bleak, y'all. Buh-LEAK. Abandon all hope if you choose to watch it, or prepare to be robbed of it. I found this film utterly unnerving; my shoulders were constantly up around my ears and arriving at the end did not lower them. I was left with a sick feeling in my gut that's not yet dissipated fully.

This is an excellent movie. It's a study of PTSD, the need for present parents who are active in their children's lives, and a dire warning of what happens when people aren't given access to the care they require. As a horror movie, it ably did its job without any of the trappings expected of the genre--and yet here I am, thoroughly horrified by it.

Horror fans into jump scares and gore may find this a bit toothless. The faint-of-heart should exercise extreme caution in approaching it. Trigger warnings for: a suicide (shown as it happens), footage of mass suicide victims (after the fact), children in peril, an animal death (after the fact), cults, and gaslighting.

Miscellany...

Riley Keough (Grace) is the daughter of Lisa Marie Presley, and the eldest granddaughter of Elvis. Like her ma and grandpa, Keough is not only attractive but has a lovely singing voice (which she displays in the movie, to chilling effect).

Ratings...

My Grade: A-

Rotten Tomatoes Scores: Tomatometer=74%, Audience Score=51%

Details, Schmeetails...

I Watched The Lodge on Hulu (the Rotten Tomatoes page linked above provides links to other streaming platforms)

Check it out on IMDb

Learn more about it on Wikipedia (Contains Spoilers)

This concludes Day 22 of

Thanks for reading and come back tomorrow...

IF YOU DARE