Rating: B
Dir: James S. Ryan
Star: Doug Wilder, Selah Rose, Benairen Kane, Maggie Wilder
I think this is low-budget and independent movie-making done right. There may be nobody you’ve heard of involved in its creation, but the important aspects are solid. The idea is an interesting one, and the script is well thought-out: these are things which do not cost money. On the technical side, things are in focus and the dialogue is clearly audible. [That may seem like a given, but trust me, it definitely is not] It doesn’t look or sound cheap. Costs are helped kept down, by a small cast and limited number of locations. Knowing your limitations and working within them is key, and Ryan – wearing a number of hats – is not seeking to reinvent cinema here.
But it is a good story, well told. While there’s definite inspiration from Signs, and Stranger Things too, this has enough of its own flavours not to see a cheap knock-off. Malcolm Gardner (D. Wilder) has been going through the motions of life for a decade, since his wife Emily (M. Wilder – they are husband and wife in real life) was killed in a car accident, leaving him prone to narcolepsy. He keeps himself to himself on their farm, seeing hardly anyone except handyman Buffa (Kane). But then, a young girl (Rose), appears out of the woods around the house. Nobody knows who she is, or where she came from: even the local police are baffled. So she stays with Mal for now.
It’s not long though, before it becomes clear Luna – as they discover is her name – is not… normal. Objects move in her vicinity, and when she speaks at all, it’s typically to say ominous things like, “The Dark One is coming. You have to protect us.” And there is a figure, apparently watching the house from the trees. With the authorities less than convinced (they’re more concerned with the search for a killer, believed to be hiding out in the area), Mal and Buffa dig in themselves, researching everything fro folklore to cartoon shows to try and find out what’s going on. Best if I stop there. While the reveal and subsequent resolution is perhaps too tidy, it’s certainly good enough.
This is simply a film which I found very easy to like. It begins with Malcolm, and his struggle to find any meaning to existence after a horrendous loss. But all the characters here come over as genuine and real, all the way down to the local police officer or Buffa’s kid brother. I found myself invested in proceedings far more than expected, as the mystery deepened. While I did tag this in the horror genre, it’s of a very gentle kind, and is as much a mystery-drama. I really didn’t expect much here: I had no reason to do so. But it was perhaps the most pleasant surprise of the year to date.
[The film is available to stream now, through Tubi and other services]