They Remain (2018) Reviews

• Green has never been so foreboding.

  ursalav2018-06-06

  They Remain is a lean and mean movie. As a lover of cosmic/weird horror I tend to like stories that bring no easy answers and create scenarios that force the viewer to work a little and play detective. The film stays very true to the original story "30" by Laird Barron and most of the dialogue came straight from the text. Both the novella and the film live in that strange sub genre of small groups of people in remote areas freaking out. Films like "Picnic at Hanging Rock" and "Long Weekend" come instantly to mind in vibe for me. From the opening scene, there is a decidedly uncomfortable tension between the two characters. And having only an awkward coworker who you don't trust as your sole confident makes for a tense little slice of sci-fi/ horror. The real star of the film is the camera work, there is so much nature in this film, verdant, green and often swallowing up the actors in it. The film makes the mundane hostile, the lush greenery and daylight as oppressive as anything shot at night. The pace of the film is slow and dreamy and the score really helps create a strange un-reality. These scientists go into this assignment not sure what they are researching exactly and in doing so become the experiment. We as viewers are not privy to the corporate higher ups (or ancient evils, or cults, or who knows) that have poisoned this land and we, at the end, are left to decide for ourselves. Is the cult still active? Is the land haunted? Is there an evil giant goat looking for its sex horn? Or something else entirely? Gelatt takes the hard roads on this one, allowing characters to be unlikeable and hard to know and leaving few safe spaces for the wayward viewer. But like The VVITCH and The Blackcoat's Daughter last year and Annihilation this year, there is definitely an appetite in the horror/sci fi community for the stranger and more subtle stories within the genre. And I think They Remain succeeds on that front. Worth the watch and the thoughtfulness afterwards.

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• Speculative, Weird and usettling

  jakewoodward-755462018-06-05

  I can see why some people don't like this movie. It takes work, it demands your attention and makes nothing easy. You can't check your phone while watching this, you've got to let yourself just be with it. It's quiet and not "scary" but it is unsettling. What the hell is going on here? Is this science fiction, is it contemporary? The film is self-consciously oblique which I enjoyed; I enjoyed trying to fill in the blanks and I've enjoyed the moments when it has popped back in my head that maybe this is what something or other meant. This is one that you will have to decide for yourself; don't let anyone tell you you will or won't enjoy it, but if you like the Speculative and Weird, you should see this and make up your own mind!

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• Unnerving and unsettling

  shnevin2018-06-05

  I don't think I've seen a film quite like this one. The best way I can describe it is it's like Mulholland Drive meets Alien. It's a psychological meditation about the horrors that lay dormant just below the surface of modern civilization. If you like avant garde film and are intellectually curious, this is well worth the watch.

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• What lurks in your head

  millsm-904332018-06-05

  I really liked this film. I watched as a fan of independent films so maybe came with less of a horror nut's expectations for blood and guts but I found it scary. The actors are both terrific and the film looks stunning (I loved "Zoo", shot by the same DP!). Totally enjoyable way to spend a night in, be a little spooked and wonder what lurks in your own head!

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• Perhaps Too Minimalist?

  gavin69422017-10-08

  Two scientists who share a romantic history are tasked with investigating unnatural animal behavior on the site of a Manson Family-style cult's compound. Laird Barron is the author of several books, including "The Croning", "The Imago Sequence", "Occultation", "The Light Is the Darkness", and "The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All". Despite this impressive list of titles, "They Remain" is the first film to be adapted from Barron's work. In horror, there is something known as the "slow burn", a film that relies more on building a sense of tension and tone rather than a fast-paced scary, in-your-face gorefest. "They Remain" is definitely going for the slow burn method, though some might doubt whether it has been achieved. The film can fairly be described as "minimalist", and as such viewers may find there is very little actually burning. Does the thin plot pay off in the end? Because of its screening at a Lovecraft film festival, it seems appropriate to discuss any themes that might be Lovecraftian. And indeed, the idea of there being a connection between geography and madness is very much a Lovecraft-inspired topic. In fact, this may be the most interesting part of the film: is the cult a one-off, or is there something otherworldly that causes such behavior time and time again? And if the latter, what is the cause? Lovecraft dabbled with the ideas of non-Euclidean geometry affecting areas (architecture) and radioactive meteors altering moods. But what does "They Remain" offer? For the horror fans, there will likely be some disappointment with the average makeup effects, particularly the burn wounds in one scene. In other technical areas, the film excels. The framing, cinematography, score and so on are all top-notch. The acting is excellent, and the two leads successfully take a thin plot and carry the run time's weight. "They Remain" debuted October 7 at the H. P Lovecraft Film Festival. It should be reaching a wider audience in the near future, presumably by late Fall 2017 via Paladin Films.

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