Do the victims in horror movies deserve what they get? Once upon a time, the genre was dominated by thinly disguised public service announcements in which promiscuity led to death. In a more ironic age, Eddie Murphy wondered why people stayed in the house. His rule: “There’s a ghost in the house, get the f— out.” But he went on to make The Haunted Mansion in 2003, so no points for consistency.
In The Lodge , the sins of the father are visited upon his children. Exhibit A: Richard (Richard Armitage), who has just left his wife for a much younger girlfriend, Grace (Riley Keough). Teenaged Aidan and younger sister Mia (Jaeden Martell, Lia McHugh) don’t think much of Grace, whom they learn was the sole survivor of a suicide cult their dad was researching when he met her. Between that and the ex-wife’s own suicide, it’s not exactly a match made in heaven, or even purgatory.
Richard decides his new nuclear family needs a yuletide holiday in the woods, far from civilization. In a creepy old house. During a winter storm. When work calls him away, he leaves the kids in Grace’s care despite her begging him not to. He even gives her a gun. “I got it from my Uncle Chekhov!” he tells her. OK, I made that line up. But Richard is definitely not getting a “Best Dad” mug for Christmas.
Richard is definitely not getting a Best Dad mug for Christmas.
The Lodge is the newest from writers/directors Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz, whose 2014 film Goodnight Mommy was a rare foreign-language-horror crossover, nominated for a Critics Choice award and the recipient of many festival prizes.
Alas, The Lodge is not its equal, though for a while it shows great promise. There’s some creative set design – every room seems to be about a foot shorter than expected, so everything feels cramped. And everyone’s reliably creepy, leaving audiences to wonder whether the problem is the kids, the post-trauma Grace, or maybe even real ghosts. In which case, why don’t they get out of the – oh, wait, now they’re snowed in.
There’s even a creepy dollhouse, a device which horror fans will recall was used to such great effect in 2018’s Hereditary , and provided some chilling moments for Rebecca Hall in 2011’s The Awakening as well. But the more we see this one on the screen, the more it seems like a spooky prop without any deeper meaning.
And by the time the movie pulls its final-act reveal, it’s clear the filmmakers have painted themselves into a narrative corner, with nothing for it but to hack their way out. It’s not a pretty denouement, and if you can imagine the sound of a lot of air being suddenly let out of a balloon – well, that’s pretty much the note it ends on.
The Lodge opens Feb. 21 in Toronto and Edmonton; Feb. 28 in Montreal and Kingston; March 6 in Ottawa and Kitchener; and March 7 in Vancouver.
2 stars out of 5
Copyright Postmedia Network Inc., 2020
