This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the film being covered here wouldn’t exist.

Written and directed by Kevin Ignatius & Nick Psinakis

Silvercreek, 1888. A man carries his unconscious daughter through the woods before murdering her. It’s an opener which sets the tone for the present day tale, where Silvercreek has become a town notable for its high suicide rate.

But Maeve (Corin Clay) doesn’t know this. A newly arrived scholarship student, she stays with a host family before bonding with patriarch Charlie (Mick Thyer), who is reeling from his own daughter’s suicide and his wife’s institutionalisation. But when the pair sleep together they discover a deadly curse that kills anyone who commits adultery is closing in.

Infidelity – and the damage caused by the accompanying deceit – drive this latest addition to the hex horror sub-genre. However, despite some effective gore, the scares here resemble a checklist of standard tropes – a bird flys into a window; a spectre wearing white – all of which feels too familiar to chill. 

Other issues with the script arise. One early scene shows a college professor explaining how everyone holds a secret they are silently announcing: it’s a distracting moment that bypasses build-up to spell things out. Similarly Lydia (Danielle Grotsky) – Charlie’s neighbour who was his daughter’s friend, before becoming Maeve’s confidant – feels engineered for exposition, disregarding the natural growth of any revelations.

Other characters also say and do things which feel manufactured for plot purposes, rather than resembling actual people trapped in a horrific situation. From stilted line deliveries to a late death and baffling decisions, it all becomes difficult to engage with, right up to the Ringu-inspired ending.

© James Rodrigeus

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