Review: The Lodge

Image courtesy of Neon.

Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala follow up their disturbing Austrian horror movie "Goodnight Mommy" - which was well liked by most critics, but left me a little cold - with their English debut, the gloomy, snowbound "The Lodge." Mixing elements of "The Shining" - being locked up in a secluded spot surrounded by snow - and referencing "The Thing" - there's a sequence in which the characters actually watch the film, but the picture also has the sense of characters being trapped with an individual whose motives are unclear - the film has elements that could have made it successful.

Alas, it's not. The picture spends much of its running time trying to convince us there's something else taking place that we can't get a grasp on, only to pull the rug out from under us with a somewhat lame plot twist and culminate with the type of nihilistic ending that has become de rigueur in modern day horror movies.

The film opens with a tragedy - spurned by her husband, Richard (Richard Armitage), from whom she's separated, a woman (Alicia Silverstone) commits suicide, leaving her two children in the care of her ex, but also his new girlfriend, the quiet Grace (Riley Keough).

Suffice it to say, the kids - Aidan (Jaeden Martell) and Mia (Lia McHugh) don't take much of a shine to their soon-to-be stepmother, and feel even less comfortable when they realize that she was the subject one of their father's research projects - a plot element left frustratingly vague - involving cults. Apparently, Grace was the daughter of a preacher who led a death cult to its obvious outcome, and she was the only survivor.

It's a little unusual, for starters, that Richard would leave his two children in Grace's care considering that, first of all, they're wildly uncomfortable around her and blame his liaison with her as the motive for their mother's death, and secondly because, well, would you leave your children with the only surviving member of a cult for a weekend at a snowy, secluded cabin?

From the start, odd things begin to occur. Food seems to be missing from the pantry. Medicine is misplaced. Mia's doll can't be found. And Grace's adorable dog, Grady, runs off. And then things get, well, darker. Grace begins to have visions of her discovering the dead members of her cult, is tormented by a painting on the wall and hears voices speaking to her. Is it all in her mind? Is someone messing with her and the two kids? Is it likely you'll have a sense of where the film is going long before it gets there? The answer is, most likely, yes.

Visually, the filmmakers capture the story's sense of dread and impending doom pretty well, but the film has pacing problems and, much like "Goodnight Mommy," the nihilistic tone of the film can be off putting. It also doesn't help that Grace is a cypher, the two children are mostly defined by their grief for their mother's loss and distaste for their stepmother and Richard is non-present.

"The Lodge" had potential, and its filmmakers obviously have talent. But it's misplaced. There are a ton of horror films flooding theaters right now - and sadly, most of them are pretty bad, especially "Fantasy Island" - and a number of others are on the horizon. This one could have been a standout, but it ultimately doesn't do much other than rely upon the cliches of the genre. It wants too much to be disturbing, but doesn't engage enough to earn that quality.