Film review
Absentia 2011
Directed by Mike Flanagan91 minHorror · Mystery
Tricia's husband has been missing for seven years. Her younger sister Callie comes to live with her as the pressure mounts to finally declare him 'dead in absentia'. Tricia is reluctant, always holding out hope, but Callie is practical and wants her to move on. As Tricia sifts through the wreckage and tries to move on with her life, Callie finds herself drawn to an ominous tunnel near the house.
Watched 12 October 2023
Pleasantly surprised. Recently I’ve been watching The Haunting of Hill House and it’s been incredible. Very much recommend it. Got 2 episodes left and waiting for my friends so I can finish it, decided for the meantime to make my horror film of the day one of Mike Flanagans films and decided to start with an earlier one called Absentia.
It was made I think in a house owned by one of Mike’s friends on a very tight budget and you can tell, the acting was kinda bad and it had a very indie feel to it. But surprisingly, I loved the writing so much that I kinda liked the film, the story was interesting and creepy, with well written (yet poorly acted) characters. The editing (also done by Mike Flanagan) was also very good, I loved how the film was about this crazy concept that no one would believe was real, when characters try and imagine what really happened it would cut to a more realistic scenario.
The film just got better and better as it went on right up until the ending that I really liked. Very interesting concept, I like.
The main detective was a little annoying/ weird. Also didn’t like the main character much. But think it’s due to the acting mostly as she was written well and I weirdly cared about her character.
Not an incredibly well made film but I’d definitely recommend it, maybe one of my favourites out of the 12 horror films I’ve watched so far this month.
7.8/10
