Rating: B
Dir: Cody Clarke.
Star: Jamie Saunders, Adriano La Rocca, Renee Adrienne Vito, Danielia Maximillian.
I am a sucker for a good, possessed object movie. In fact, I am a sucker for a not very good, possessed object movie too: hello, Killer Sofa and The Fifth Thoracic Vertebra. But this is certainly a twist. For those unaware, a ramekin is a small baking dish, the kind in which crème brûlée is served, for example. Not typically a threat. Well, after this, you might end up putting a padlock on your crockery cupboard. The life of Emily (Saunders) is already a nightmare, in a NY apartment shared with the housemates from hell. When her reclusive grandmother passes, her home falls vacant, and Emily leaps on the chance to move in.
Except, there’s already a tenant: the titular ramekin. Is it possessed? A demonic entity? Extraterrestrial? We never do find out. But it’s the reason why her grandmother never left the house, and it’s not going to let Emily do so either. There are positives: it can manifest both chocolate cupcakes and money, so it’s not as if Emily will starve. However, it seems to be trying to take over Emily and use her to commit anti-social behaviour, either against best friend Jane (La Rocca) and her “stupid face”, or helpful neighbour Mark (Vito). While the horror in this is generally pretty light (imagine a PG-rated version of Brain Damage), the poems she writes under the ramekin’s influence, and reads to Mark, might be the most disturbing thing here. She tells him, “This one is called Emily is Great”:
The skies are full of black,
But Emily is pure white.
Emily will slowly become pure black.
When Emily is pure black,
People will become pure red.
Ok. Is that the time? I really must be going. There are brief moments where the control of Emily is loosened, such as when Mark gives her one of his home-made cupcakes, and she frantically tries to tell him what’s happening. But she’s then locked-down again, Emily convincing him she was just kidding… It’s becoming clear – the poems help – that what the ramekin wants is blood. Lots of blood. However, in line with my previous comment, all we get is a very tidy jug of the red stuff. Maybe this was filmed in Cody’s apartment and he wanted his deposit back.
You could argue that the ending is a bit of a cheat, avoiding the potentially tricky need to find a resolution. However, it feels like the movie earned the right to finish things that way, putting in the work necessary to reach that point. Given the idiocy of the concept, the fact I was made to buy into it, means a fair amount of slack is deserved. Saunders is particularly good. The somewhat stilted and off-kilter nature of her performance – she doesn’t blink nearly as often as she should – works in the film’s favour, perhaps enhanced by all dialogue being post-synched. I don’t know anyone who has ever been controlled by a baking dish. But if they were, I imagine they would likely behave like Emily.