(***1/2)
They’re gone. Just like that they disappeared into the night. At 2:17am. Seventeen kids from a third-grade class vanished like ghosts. What the hell…
That premise in writer/director Zach Cregger’s affecting horror/thriller is a seed that he grows organically. Starting with that mystery, then unraveling what happens afterwards in a compelling way that grabs any viewers’ attention and holds it for 128 minutes until all is revealed. Wisely, methodically, like a supreme storyteller, Cregger reveals plot pieces in layers. Try as you will, you can’t guess the ending. Nor seemingly can any of the characters in this wicked tale.
All the students in Justine Gandy’s (Julie Garner, Netflix’s Ozark) elementary school class have vanished. All except one. His name is Alex (Cary Christopher), and he doesn’t remember much, though many try to pry info out of him. Justine is stumped too. At a town meeting, parents express their deepest fears for their missing kids and some rage uncontrollably. A dad named Archer (Josh Brolin) points at the teacher. Like she’s a witch who’s cast a spell and stolen his child. Archer, screaming: “I don’t understand at all. Why just her classroom? Why only hers!?” Fortunately, the school principal Marcus (Benedict Wong) calms the mob.
But who’s going to solve this case? Archer pressures the police, who seem baffled. Then he does his own digging. Though warned not to, Justine tracks Alex down and wants to interrogate him. Something weird is going on. Hard to put your finger on it. It’s like the whole town is caught in a trance over this case and evil spirits are holding their emotions hostage and mocking them too. Folks are traumatized, scared and looking for clues.
Cregger could have relied on straight-forward storytelling. Instead, what unfolds does so in a Rashomon format. A sequence happens with one character’s perspective. Later it’s repeated, but from another character’s viewpoint. It’s like a chain of voices that goes forward only after it’s gone backwards. The script adds pivotal characters to this very captivating structure. Souls whose lives are intertwined: Justine’s ex Paul (Alden Ehrenreich, Oppenheimer) a fairly stupid cop. James (Austin Abrams) a junkie who sees too much. Alex’s mom (Callie Schuttera) and dad (Whitmer Thomas). And a visiting Aunt Gladys (Amy Madigan, Field of Dreams). Piecing the story together is a challenge. A good challenge. One that will keep audiences mesmerized.
As a director, Cregger has a smooth, engaging style. His guidance helps the entire cast give natural performances. He’s got a nice feel for mood and movement. Knows how to build tension into an evolving mystery. Cregger works the audience’s nerves in both obvious and subtle ways. In his hands, surprisingly, restraint and dread make the footage more tense and compelling than wall-to-wall gore could ever do. By the time violence and slaughter rear their head, you’re so invested in and sensitive to the characters that any bloodletting feels exceedingly intense. It’s a style more similar to Hitchcock than George Romero or John Carpenter. More psychological, less physical.
The filmmaker is aided greatly by Larkin Seiple’s inobtrusive cinematography. His judicious camerawork goes indoors and outdoors seamlessly. Night shots under streets lights, classrooms, sundrenched front lawns. He makes it all look like we’re watching middle America in crisis, up close. The biggest compliment anyone can give a production designer is saying “I can’t tell whether the footage was shot in a studio or in real locations.” In that way Tom Hammock’s perceptive design work is invisible. Ditto costume designer TrishSummerville. Their version of suburban life rings true.
The musical score is creepy in all the right places. Credit Ryan Holladay, Hays Holladay and Zach Cregger for knowing when to go light with the piano music. When to go heavy with thundering drums. Fray the nerves. Add fright. Accentuate the gore scenes with jarring sounds. They get it just right. As does editor Joe Murphy who makes every single second of the film accountable for conveying emotions, vital plot twists, revelations, rivalries, demonic rituals and a fight for answers that never abates. No fat. All lean scenes.
The entire cast makes the characters on the page rise above any preconceived notions. The dynamics between Justine and Archer, as played by Garner and Brolin, go from warring humans to disparate souls on the same mission. That’s because the two actors don’t overplay their hands as two determined protagonists not sure of what’s happening around them or to them. Paul and James are the opposite kind of characters. Ehrenreich and Abrams portray the two men with overtly animated performances. Dim-witted cop. Dim-witted junkie. Tied together by bad decisions and bad luck. The characterizations are perfect. However, not as perfect as Madigan’s interpretation of Aunt Gladys. The veteran, Oscar-nominated actor knows how to get the most of a scene. Closeups of her face as she rages will be etched in viewers minds for a lifetime.
Beware when kids disappear. You never know where their vanishings will lead. And that’s the strength of this well written, directed, filmed, acted and produced horror thriller. You never know until the script is ready to tell you what the hell just happened.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpThntO9ixc
Visit Film Critic Dwight Brown at DwightBrownInk.com.