Year of Release: 2019
Director: Nicolas Pesce
Starring: Andrea Riseborough, Demian Bichir, John Cho, Betty Gilpin, Lin Shaye, Frankie Faison, Jacki Weaver, William Sadler, Tara Westwood, Zoe Fish, Joel Marsh Garland, John Hansen, Stephanie Sy, Steven Ratzlaff, Bradley Sawatzky
Genre: Horror
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 5
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Synopsis and Review
Nicolas Pesce made a name for himself with his first two directorial endeavors, namely "The Eyes of My Mother" and in particular with "Piercing", the latter of which featured two solid performances from Christopher Abbott and Mia Wasikowska. This new version of "The Grudge", is once again produced by Sam Raimi and Robert Tapert, much like the prior one that was released in 2004, from director Takashi Shimizu, which featured Sarah Michelle Gellar in the lead role. This time around the narrative focuses on the story of Detective Muldoon, who has just moved in to a new city with her young son, following the painful death of her husband. She and her veteran partner by the name of Goodman, are soon assigned a case of a strange death of a woman who is found inside a car off from a road that has very little traffic. The investigation leads them to a house, where Muldoon soon finds there's a lot of story to it, and one where Goodman refuses to set foot in. Turns out the house used to belong to a couple comprised of Fiona and Sam Landers. Fiona had been a nurse in Tokyo, and moved back to the US following some strange occurrences in the residence in which she was in. Turns out she brought with her whatever was haunting that residence, and herself and her family are killed as a result, something that spreads as well to the realtors who were working with the Landers'. As Muldoon sets foot in the house, she uncovers Faith Matheson's presence alongside the decomposing body of her late husband, William. As it turns out, they bought the house following the deaths of the Landers' and Faith, who suffers from dementia, became the next victim for that entity. As Muldoon continues the investigation, she also starts experiencing strange occurrences. She soon realizes why Goodman is both close to the cases, and why he refuses to go in the house.
This new version of "The Grudge" manages to slowly peel away the layers of disturbance that the supernatural entity slowly and gradually brings to the specific residence at the core of the narrative, and everyone who sets foot in it. The film smartly jumps through different timelines, but illustrates the pervasiveness of that entity, and the destruction that it starts bringing into all these characters' lives. While most of these characters are thinly realized, they're still brought to life with some success courtesy of the very talented cast that has been assembled. The director realizes that some of the situations themselves may not be the most original ones, particularly when it comes to horror film scenarios, but he does take his time in building all the threads that eventually connect all these characters. And that's where the film actually builds its scares, from the notion that this entity is unavoidable, unmissable, no matter what happens, and wherever these characters eventually go, and whatever tribulations they have, this figure won't let them go. The definition of this atmosphere is particularly successful, making the film that much more intriguing, the same going for the cast who is truly fantastic, starting with the always underrated Andrea Riseborough, who has great support from Demian Bichir, John Cho, Lin Shaye, Jackie Weaver, Frankie Faison and the always great William Sadler (all impeccable performers). The production team is equally solid, including Zack Galler's cinematography, Jean-Andre Carriere's production design, and The Newton Brothers' score. While some character aspects beg for some expansion and development, overall this is still a watchable film from an interesting director.
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