Within like the first 10-15 minutes of the film, it's hard not to like the main characters here, particularly Sam and Olivia and Emily. All throughout the film, the actors do a spectacular job with each of them, doing much better than "avoid being annoying" and becoming genuinely endearing.
Unfortunately they are about the only strong point of the film, which decides to play itself safe, take no risks, and essentially retread and rehash everything done before in countless other, better horror films.
Sam is the "troubled child" adopted by a family in which the mother is apparently an empty-headed flake and the dad is almost comically hostile towards her. The only comfort in her home life is their natural daughter Olivia, whom she genuinely loves and cares for.
Then comes the horror part where Sam ditches Olivia a second time, making Olivia walk home through the woods while Sam hangs out somewhere. This time Olivia doesn't come home, and the family is traumatized. Days later, Olivia suddenly shows up in their backyard, seemingly confused by completely unaffected.
Almost immediately it's obvious that Olivia is behaving erratically, and all the cliche' horror movie tropes start playing out, with the Disbelieving Parents ("She's just acting strange because of the trauma she's been through"), the Town Nut who makes a scene in public ("Something's wrong with that girl, she's evil"), the Disbelieving But Supportive Boyfriend Logan who tags along with Sam in her quest to gather information, and the Hardnosed Cop who suspects Sam of committing atrocities done by Hollowed-out Olivia because Sam is the "bad girl" type who cuts herself and listens to heavy metal.
No one in this film is even remotely "genre savvy", stuck in a sort of hackneyed cliche' horror movie mindset of "There's no possible way there's anything remotely strange about this situation, obviously the Troubled Girl is just being a b***", to a point where it almost becomes a plothole in itself.
It's facepalmingly stupid when Sam tells her almost boyfriend Logan that Town Nut Alison's sister Janie disappeared years ago in the woods, returned mysteriously days later, started acting strange and now the exact same thing has happened with Olivia, and Logan says that's not at all suspicious. Not only is this EXTREMELY suspicious in such a way that should warrant actual police attention (even on the grounds of something non-supernatural, like a child-predator who's been abducting children for years), but later on Sam discovers this exact same cycle has been going on for literal decades, and absolutely no one in the town notices, cares, or sees any connection with what is happening now with Olivia.
Naturally, everyone just sticks to "Troubled girl is a b****, just ignore her" while evil Hollowed-out Olivia continues to escalate her mischief and carnage, terrorizing Sam all throughout.
This bland story setup alone isn't interesting enough to stand on its own, but it feels even further dragged down by just how absolutely certain and absolutely furious everyone is at the thought that Sam would have any problem with Olivia disappearing for a few days and returning unexpectedly and unharmed. We literally don't even see the cops show up after Olivia's return until it's time to harass Sam for something unrelated.
It's not just the fact that no one seems to care about Olivia once she returns, but it's the absurd lack of any sort of follow-up by anyone. Her parents literally don't even flinch when Olivia tauntingly kicks Sam under the dinner table, then grabs a handful of macaroni and chomps on it like a nutcase, but start getting agitated and hostile when Sam even mentions Olivia's disappearance. It's supposed to make the protagonist feel frustrated and crazy and it ends up making the audience feel like they're going crazy.
The ending, once it comes, is a bumbling mess that happily ignores the mess made beforehand by Evil Olivia, and seems confused and undecided as to having a pointless twist ending, with the twist suddenly happening after the initial credits roll, in such a way that fails so miserably to shock that it's almost laughable. The entire scene leading up to the end is filled with a low, unsettling expectation of the coming twist, then suddenly it cuts to black, "Directed by" and "Written by" credits, then suddenly the twist comes crashing back in with loud sound effects, too soon to give us time to wonder, and too late to feel like an actual part of the film rather than a quick edit made after the film was done because someone forgot to put it in.
Unfortunately they are about the only strong point of the film, which decides to play itself safe, take no risks, and essentially retread and rehash everything done before in countless other, better horror films.
Sam is the "troubled child" adopted by a family in which the mother is apparently an empty-headed flake and the dad is almost comically hostile towards her. The only comfort in her home life is their natural daughter Olivia, whom she genuinely loves and cares for.
Then comes the horror part where Sam ditches Olivia a second time, making Olivia walk home through the woods while Sam hangs out somewhere. This time Olivia doesn't come home, and the family is traumatized. Days later, Olivia suddenly shows up in their backyard, seemingly confused by completely unaffected.
Almost immediately it's obvious that Olivia is behaving erratically, and all the cliche' horror movie tropes start playing out, with the Disbelieving Parents ("She's just acting strange because of the trauma she's been through"), the Town Nut who makes a scene in public ("Something's wrong with that girl, she's evil"), the Disbelieving But Supportive Boyfriend Logan who tags along with Sam in her quest to gather information, and the Hardnosed Cop who suspects Sam of committing atrocities done by Hollowed-out Olivia because Sam is the "bad girl" type who cuts herself and listens to heavy metal.
No one in this film is even remotely "genre savvy", stuck in a sort of hackneyed cliche' horror movie mindset of "There's no possible way there's anything remotely strange about this situation, obviously the Troubled Girl is just being a b***", to a point where it almost becomes a plothole in itself.
It's facepalmingly stupid when Sam tells her almost boyfriend Logan that Town Nut Alison's sister Janie disappeared years ago in the woods, returned mysteriously days later, started acting strange and now the exact same thing has happened with Olivia, and Logan says that's not at all suspicious. Not only is this EXTREMELY suspicious in such a way that should warrant actual police attention (even on the grounds of something non-supernatural, like a child-predator who's been abducting children for years), but later on Sam discovers this exact same cycle has been going on for literal decades, and absolutely no one in the town notices, cares, or sees any connection with what is happening now with Olivia.
Naturally, everyone just sticks to "Troubled girl is a b****, just ignore her" while evil Hollowed-out Olivia continues to escalate her mischief and carnage, terrorizing Sam all throughout.
This bland story setup alone isn't interesting enough to stand on its own, but it feels even further dragged down by just how absolutely certain and absolutely furious everyone is at the thought that Sam would have any problem with Olivia disappearing for a few days and returning unexpectedly and unharmed. We literally don't even see the cops show up after Olivia's return until it's time to harass Sam for something unrelated.
It's not just the fact that no one seems to care about Olivia once she returns, but it's the absurd lack of any sort of follow-up by anyone. Her parents literally don't even flinch when Olivia tauntingly kicks Sam under the dinner table, then grabs a handful of macaroni and chomps on it like a nutcase, but start getting agitated and hostile when Sam even mentions Olivia's disappearance. It's supposed to make the protagonist feel frustrated and crazy and it ends up making the audience feel like they're going crazy.
The ending, once it comes, is a bumbling mess that happily ignores the mess made beforehand by Evil Olivia, and seems confused and undecided as to having a pointless twist ending, with the twist suddenly happening after the initial credits roll, in such a way that fails so miserably to shock that it's almost laughable. The entire scene leading up to the end is filled with a low, unsettling expectation of the coming twist, then suddenly it cuts to black, "Directed by" and "Written by" credits, then suddenly the twist comes crashing back in with loud sound effects, too soon to give us time to wonder, and too late to feel like an actual part of the film rather than a quick edit made after the film was done because someone forgot to put it in.