This was one of my most anticipated films of the year, and while I wouldn't call "The Lodge" a disappointment, it certainly wasn't what I was expecting.
I'm a huge horror fan, and I was blown away by Severin Fiala and Veronikka Franz's first (narrative) film: "Goodnight Mommy", which came out six years ago. The trailers for "The Lodge" made it look like a straight up horror movie on par with "Hereditary"; reviewers were even quoted in said trailers, saying that "The next great horror film is here."
I'm going to refute that claim. This is not a great horror movie; it's a very competent but somewhat frustrating thriller. I don't think this movie is very scary, but I do think the things that happen in the third act are undeniably horrific, inventive, and unnerving. It's a disturbing thriller that takes a very long time to get to the disturbing moments, and that's part of the reason I found this film to be a bit frustrating. I found "The Lodge" was also a little bit heavy-handed with its foreshadowing, so it became easily predictable for those that are used to the tropey twists of the genre.
At the same time, the story that this movie told was one that I thought was compelling, and towards the end, when the horrific elements start to ramp up, it really grabbed my attention; the problem was that it took about twenty minutes too long to get there, and the film isn't very long in the first place. I liked the story "The Lodge" tells, but the lack of payoff for the first two-thirds of the film really tests the patience of the viewer, and it's clear that this film takes heavy inspiration from recent horror greats ("Hereditary" in particular- there's a lot of interior miniature shots).
I'm a huge horror fan, and I was blown away by Severin Fiala and Veronikka Franz's first (narrative) film: "Goodnight Mommy", which came out six years ago. The trailers for "The Lodge" made it look like a straight up horror movie on par with "Hereditary"; reviewers were even quoted in said trailers, saying that "The next great horror film is here."
I'm going to refute that claim. This is not a great horror movie; it's a very competent but somewhat frustrating thriller. I don't think this movie is very scary, but I do think the things that happen in the third act are undeniably horrific, inventive, and unnerving. It's a disturbing thriller that takes a very long time to get to the disturbing moments, and that's part of the reason I found this film to be a bit frustrating. I found "The Lodge" was also a little bit heavy-handed with its foreshadowing, so it became easily predictable for those that are used to the tropey twists of the genre.
At the same time, the story that this movie told was one that I thought was compelling, and towards the end, when the horrific elements start to ramp up, it really grabbed my attention; the problem was that it took about twenty minutes too long to get there, and the film isn't very long in the first place. I liked the story "The Lodge" tells, but the lack of payoff for the first two-thirds of the film really tests the patience of the viewer, and it's clear that this film takes heavy inspiration from recent horror greats ("Hereditary" in particular- there's a lot of interior miniature shots).