Somewhere near the end of Andrew Semans’ sleek, galloping, ridiculously funny horror movie Resurrection, there’s a scene of gruesomely bombastic intent that actually takes my breath away. And I laughed, tickled by how easily Semans and his star, charismatic Rebecca Hall, persuaded me to invest in their insane antics.
But Hall has a knack for pumping gravity into a somewhat silly narrative, as evidenced by last year’s creepout, “The Night House.” Here, she plays Margaret, a pharmaceutical executive of sorts, and finds an intensity that borders on obsessive from the start. , Margaret is a model of a computed control. Even her sex life is tightly regulated, and her liaisons with her married colleague Peter (Michael Esper) are deployed more efficiently than her pleasure. It’s not that Margaret is cold — on more than one occasion, we see her empathetically advising her young intern to leave her emotionally abusive boyfriend — that she’s permanently It just looks wary.
But against what? Clues begin to accumulate. Abby, who is about to go to college, finds a human molar in her purse. Later, when Margaret sees a mysterious man in her lecture room, his face turns white and she trembles as if she had seen a ghost. Over 20 years ago, she got involved with this man, David (Tim Roth), and the relationship literally left her scars. Now he seems to want something, is frightened, and appears randomly, staying away from her until she speaks to him. His cunning grin reveals the missing tooth .
As we’re about to learn, David is more than a heel, he’s Hell, and begins when the stalking story rapidly slides into depravity and humiliation. As Cracks begin to form, Margaret snipes at her colleague, keeping a close eye on Abby’s movements. But Semans, who made her 2013 debut in the cheeky psychocomedy “Nancy, Please,” is a twisted mind seeker too confident to settle for clichés. The deal you want to make is unbelievable, unthinkable, and insane. But Ross’ eerily silent body, his language, and his quietly ominous reading of the lines suppress the urge to laugh. He’s a magnetic sadist.
Encouraged by Jim Williams’ disturbing score, Hall and Ross convincingly sell off the sick psychological bonds of their characters. “Resurrection” thus contains multiple themes – empty nest angst, toxic men, and the long tails of their manipulation – and how far the film can convince audiences to venture into the Looneyverse. , feels like a free test.
That’s why Hall’s skin-tingling seven-minute monologue early in the film is so important. As the screen behind her darkens and her pale face fills the frame, she recounts Margaret and David’s gruesome history with irresistible honesty. It’s the perfect setup for such a deliciously ambiguous ending that I couldn’t help but admire.
Revival
Unrated. Running time: 1 hour 43 minutes. at the theater.