T w e n t y S i d e d

In an effort to spend less time in my office and more time connecting with my family, I have ended up watching more movies. Just as last week I ended up thinking about existential horror, this week I wondered about expectations. And a few failures, honestly. But the expectations were the big one, and that’s where we will start, with 2024’s Winter Island. Spoilers for the entire movie are contained, if you wish to watch first. As well as spoilers for the 2023 The Boogeyman and 2020’s Behind You, although those are pretty minor. All are free on TubiTV, which is my primary go-to for viewing pleasure. Sorry about the ads, if you’re watching on a TV, tablet, or phone app.

A four-member family’s daughter (to the parents) and sister (to the son) rows to a small island maybe 75 yards from a shore-front house on a lake. She is presented as possibly setting off to un-alive herself. On the island she is possibly stalked and murdered…what or who did it is not shown. Nothing depicted contradicts the possibility that she did what she set out to do…our expectations of the supernatural are presented by the poster art, the movie’s title, and its inclusion in the “horror” genre.

HOWEVER her spirit is shown to be affecting the house she left, and her brother, near high-school graduation age, seems most affected. The mother is deeply affected by something connected to the daughter, but this is shown to be a pre-existing condition. The son, daughter, and wife (to an extent) are also shown to be likely persecuted at least a bit by the cultish, “extreme” or “fundamental,” seemingly Christian-influenced religious beliefs of the father. The movie presents a story that leads the viewer to suspect the father of abusing his children, while maintaining the possibility of a supernatural presence on “Winter Island.” The supernatural possibilities are reinforced by warnings from the parents and a neighbor to stay away from the island, with the neighbor also warning of historical supernatural connections. The son believes he sees his sister on the island while the family is still searching for her still-missing…self, I guess. For the record, the small rowboat the daughter used is currently tied up back at the house…it is not on the island where she must have left it. The son explores the island, but upon reaching the location where she died he gets frightened, falls, and damages his leg or ankle. It puts him on crutches, anyway. The son eventually becomes convinced the daughter’s body is on the island despite the police claiming it was searched. About half-way through the film the mother admits to finding the body of the daughter on the island and burying it. Confirming, in the process, that the daughter did in fact un-alive herself. The mother was trying to keep the “reasons” for the daughter’s actions hidden. She also informs her spouse that she will stay with her parents and pursue separation from her spouse. She does *not,* however, push for the son to stay with her.

The spouse seems to have no concerns about the mother hiding the daughter’s body “for reasons,” but is bothered by the separation because of his religious beliefs. The argument against the father thus becomes stronger. The mother’s inaction regarding the son could be viewed through her severely damaged psyche, but it seems tenuous. Believing he sees his sister appear on the island again, the son rows over to the island to try to talk to her, at which point the daughter scratches a name (supernaturally) on a tree: that of their uncle, the brother of the mother. The son accuses the daughter of lying and flees the island (without hurting himself this time.) The daughter watches him reproachfully, half-hidden behind a tree (and obviously dead.)

The father decides the problem with…everything…is that he has become soft and let the family enjoy too much pleasure. So he tries to take away music, notebooks, some art (the mother was an artist), the TV, etc. The son confronts him and the father appears to relent after a screaming match. About this time the brother of the mother, also identified by the daughter as “the accused,” decides to visit. It is revealed that the brother has a LONG list of called-in allegations that tend to circle around sexual abuse..of his sister and later her daughter. It is also indicated that he may have physically abused his parents. The brother has been in jail or prison on separate charges unrelated to the accusations. His sister is shown to have covered up his crimes against herself and her daughter in a flashback where she warns him she will no longer provide excuses, so he needs to stay away from her family. The father visits his “church” and the church leader several times seeking comfort and affirmation. The uncle claims to want to join the church; but it is clear this wish not sincere and he is trying to get close to the son now.

The father phones in a report to the police that the mother is mentally unstable and a danger to everyone she is around, leading the police to arrest her in order to take her in for a psychological evaluation. (The father having this much power is justified by an early revelation that he is a well-liked and respected member of the small community, which is easier to buy in conjunction with the prevalence of the local “church.”) While being driven to her evaluation, the daughter possesses the mother, endowing her with telekinetic powers she uses to murder her way out of the police carry-all. The son confronts the father about the uncle after finally finding the hidden confession left by the daughter for her brother. The notebook containing this letter had been put away by the father during his purge, and the daughter also “hid” the message inside another message…so it wasn’t all that obvious. The son confronts the father about the uncle, but is incapacitated. The father is confronted by the neighbor over his own actions. The father responds poorly…but also accidentally kills her. Like, manslaughter accident. He’s responsible, no doubt; and his behavior toward his family has been deplorable, but the death is an accident. The father drags the body inside his house then calls the uncle to meet about joining the church.

Surprise! The father and the church leader tie up the uncle to “get him to confess” his crimes to them. It appears the church leader and the father think this is normal…it is implied that after confession and prayer, the uncle will be welcomed and made a member of the church. The father, unfortunately, has different ideas. He decides to brandish an axe over the mostly-pitiful objections of the church leader. Seemingly the axe was meant for threats (its presence is not actually explained), not an actual attack. But the father chops off the uncle’s hand while screaming “is this the hand you touched her with?” The church leader moves to intervene when the possessed mother shows up and kills the church leader. We see and hear police sirens approaching. The mother sends the father outside, where he drops the axe and falls to his knees with his hands up. The mother meanwhile murders her brother. During all this, the son has awakened and found the murdered neighbor in a bathtub full of ice and a note left by the father that he was going to the church leader’s house.

The final scene shows the son, having finished high school, settling in to the house as the only survivor.

Is this a horror movie? Not in the sense that the “poster” used to advertise the movie indicates. One article headline states this movie is much more about “grief” than it is about “horror,” which I don’t think is *wrong* really, but isn’t exactly right. The grief of the surviving family members is a possible explanation for their minor actions early in the movie, but the supernatural characteristics are never abandoned. Even when the mother admits she found the daughter and tried to cover up the un-aliving, not *everything* the audience has seen is explained by her not-normal but technically prosaic actions. The mother’s continual dismissal of the uncle’s horrid actions are simply representative of what we have seen reported on for decades. In the end, we are shown the supernatural explanation is very real, but provides only part of the final solution. Would the mother have murdered the uncle in the end if she wasn’t possessed by the daughter? She put up with him for decades, and only recently (or at least, as far as we are shown) informed him she would no longer cover for his actions. Her separation from the father character seems to be about *his* abuse as much as her insistence on finally dealing with the demons of her past, but she has only admitted to burying the daughter…in an attempt to cover for the uncle yet again.

The father’s situation is likely the most controversial element. The father’s “fundamentalist” and “extreme” religious views are controversial to some, but his actions are presented as unusual even within the context of the movie. The “church” is presented as cult-like. I have no doubt many people who associate with groups that might identify with some elements of the presented group would disavow this content, and I’m happy to leave it at that. To that point, this *could* be considered “commentary” rather than “horror.” However, it is also clear that the father’s specific actions at the end; his attack on the uncle and his following surrender to police, are a byproduct of grief and his own beliefs. He is presented as both an aggressor and a victim. He is responsible for much of the family’s suffering and pays a price at the end. While some of the crimes he commits, the kidnapping, torture, and mutilation of his brother-in-law; seem justified, we also must consider that his anger in being confronted over his actions as a father led him to threaten assault on a neighbor which led immediately to her accidental death. This wasn’t the first time, either. He is shown threatening a new police investigator who is checking on only the *latest* domestic violence and abuse accusation against the father. He seems fine threatening female-presenting actors in his life and repeatedly asks why the male he previously worked with is not available. This possibly connects with his standing ability to get the police to do what he wants…as long as he can talk to someone he knows. The father’s very existence *is* a commentary on political and social structures, and he is found just as guilty of profiting from these as he is of chopping off the hand of his brother-in-law.

In the end, I can see why this film currently holds a rating around 5/10. People either love it or hate it, and typically cite either the film’s failure to live up to horror tropes or its extensive focus on social commentary. Personally I found it decent but unremarkable at first, but it occupied my thoughts and slowly re-arranged itself in my mind. Currently I think it’s one of the better recent offerings and would recommend it, with the caveat that you likely won’t get what you expect if all you’ve seen is the precis description a streaming service might give it. Or the cover art.

I mentioned Behind You last week. We finally finished the film and found it to be rather poor. The movie starts off with a great premise and setup: a house is occupied by a demon. The demon requires you to say a particular phrase three times to possess you. You can only see the demon in a mirror, i.e. “behind you.” We’re given an establishing scene with the oldest daughter reading some bits from the Alice novels to a younger daughter, along with the older daughter’s boyfriend. Upon being informed of bedtime, a clearly-fearful younger daughter goes into the bathroom to brush her teeth, and something horrible happens. Decades later, the two nieces of the oldest daughter (a third daughter is shown briefly in the flashback) are being sent to stay at her house because their mother suddenly died while their father was out of the country. They are being transported by a social worker who seems friendly with the girls. The older is a young teen, the younger is preteen and only interacts with people through her bunny doll (presented as trauma from their mother’s passing.) The oldest daughter from the flashback, now elderly; says she doesn’t want children in the house (despite agreeing previously) and gives the two many restrictions on where to go and what to do in the house. The oldest also quickly discovers all the mirrors are either removed or covered.

Great setup, right? You can see where this is going. Unfortunately it goes downhill fast. Everything above sets the stage for the first near-half of the movie. After that it feels like there was some kind of intervention, and the producers said it wasn’t going the way they wanted *at all,* and the director needed to change things up. There are literally contradictory scenes after the middle.

Likewise the original The Boogeyman (2023, Rob Savage), another recent view. Or almost viewed, really. I mean, we did watch almost all of it. Having been in therapy a lot the last several years, I will point out first of all that the therapists in this movie aren’t acting ethically or even appropriately in any way. They are movie therapists, which exist solely to have the label applied. Secondly there are, once again, multiple contradictory scenes…more than in Behind You. Some “thing” is clearly established, and the next scene shows the character that learned that “thing” acting as if they hadn’t learned it. The physical characterization of “the monster” is also inconsistent. The Boogeyman is both physical and supernatural depending on the needs of the scene. My spouse and I watched until the monster was revealed, at which point we both burst into laughter. And then turned the movie off, realizing we were only a few minutes from the end. But the monster is so unbelievably goofy-looking that we just couldn’t keep watching…it took us right out of the movie. Of course, if we had reason to invest more up to that point, it *might* have worked…but I doubt it.

So that’s it for now, see you next week!

Paige Francis He/him