Johnny (Joshua Malekos) has swiped Tara (Tara Nichol Caldwell) off her feet to such a degree that when he, after a mere couple of months of dating, asks her to leave the big city and move to the country with him for work reasons, she immediately says yes without thinking. And at first, her trust in him is rewarded when she first sees the rather vast dream home he has bought for them. Sure, there's a problem with the internet and cellphone reception in the house, but that's at least in theory an easy fix. Only, in the country even easy fixes take their time, and while Johnny's mostly away for work during the days, Tara bores herself pretty much to death, to the point where she starts seeing things, like rats in the house even though there's absolutely no proof that there are any inside, or the corpse of the house's previous owner, Lyvia (also Tara Nichol Caldwell). These visions are too real not to startle Tara, even if Johnny always proves to her they're just in her imagination.

On a trip to a local bar, Tara and Johnny make the acquaintance of Annie (Carni Oh) - only to learn she has been killed just a few days later. And when trying to find out more about her death, Tara learns she was killed and buried by her killer just like local serialkiller Ed (Jeffrey N. Graham) did away with no less than 25 people twenty years ago. Only since he has died two years ago, it couldn't have been him.  And while Tara investigates this story a bit further, Johnny starts to act more and more erraticm anbd Tara finds out he's rooted in the area much more than he has ever let on - and might even be somehow related to the serialkiller of old ...

A very nice piece of southern gothic that, despite identifying the killer early on,  keeps the audience glued to their seats as the film at the same time refuses to give its game away, instead goes for a slowburn approach that features many twists and turns and builds up tension and suspense throughout, thanks to a clever script, but also to atmospheric camerawork making perfect use of the surroundings, and a fittingly creepy soundscape. And Tara Nichole Caldwell carries the film rather beautifully and is surrounded by a more than able ensemble, all of which results in pretty awesome thriller entertainment.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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