This Icelandic chiller is effectively two stories in one. In the one a psychiatrist, Freyr, is brought in when a woman is found hanged in a church. It looks like an obvious case of suicide but she has numerous crosses carved in her back suggesting abuse. As the case is investigated links are found to other deaths and the disappearance of a bullied child fifty years previously... she was also taking an interest in his son who vanished three years previously. In the other story a couple, Katrin and Garðar, and a friend. Lif, head to a remote abandoned village, where they hope to convert one of the houses into a guest house; they soon start to feel that they aren't alone.
This is a solid chiller doesn't really fit into one genre. There are elements of a mystery as we are invited to wonder who caused the dead woman's scars and what happened to the two children. There is also the question of whether the people in the remote house are seeing things that are really there are just imagining it due to the somewhat creepy nature of the location... there is something intrinsically atmospheric about 'ghost towns'. The bleak majesty of the local Icelandic countryside only adds to the atmosphere. The two stories aren't categorically linked till the finale; although it is the nature of such films that people will assume a link... even so I didn't guess the major twist until it was revealed. There is little in the way of real horror, and few jump-scares, but it is still effective thanks to the way things are depicted and a minimal but skilled use of music. The cast is solid, making the characters feel like ordinary people. Overall I'd recommend this for those looking for something a little different... a good mystery with spooky elements.
These comments are based on watching the film in Icelandic with English subtitles.
This is a solid chiller doesn't really fit into one genre. There are elements of a mystery as we are invited to wonder who caused the dead woman's scars and what happened to the two children. There is also the question of whether the people in the remote house are seeing things that are really there are just imagining it due to the somewhat creepy nature of the location... there is something intrinsically atmospheric about 'ghost towns'. The bleak majesty of the local Icelandic countryside only adds to the atmosphere. The two stories aren't categorically linked till the finale; although it is the nature of such films that people will assume a link... even so I didn't guess the major twist until it was revealed. There is little in the way of real horror, and few jump-scares, but it is still effective thanks to the way things are depicted and a minimal but skilled use of music. The cast is solid, making the characters feel like ordinary people. Overall I'd recommend this for those looking for something a little different... a good mystery with spooky elements.
These comments are based on watching the film in Icelandic with English subtitles.