I had this on in the background at work this morning so I was only half paying attention. Can anyone just give me a full plot spoiler? I really didn't get the feeling that it needed a rewatch, but am I wrong?
shareIt was slow paced, and very artsy. That is not to say that it was bad, but, nothing "exciting" happens. It is more of an overall feeling of uneasiness. There are no twists, or jump scares, or gore. Just a haunted house/ghost story.
shareWe see Polly get killed by a man (husband? father?) and her body is stuffed into an opening behind the wall. She haunts Lily and makes herself visible, which scares Lily to death. We see Lily's body by the front door, and Lily is now a ghost as well. Since there is no one to take care of the old lady, she dies as well, and we see her body on the floor of the room, her little bell she used to summon Lily is near her hand. She is also now a ghost. The final scene is Lily gently watching over the children of the new owners of the house.
It would have been wonderful movie if it had moved a little quicker - or at least if the voiceover was sped up. I wanted to like it, but I had to keep rewatching scenes because my mind wandered, which is unusual for me. But it is a beautiful movie in terms of cinematography, atmosphere and sound.
Polly is presumably the bride talked of at the beginning, so that would be her husband. Some clue as to why he would build her a house and then kill her in in it in the first few minutes of their honeymoon would have been a nice bit of actual plot, but the movie never goes there.
I understand. Thank you for telling me. -The masked bandit
That was part of my issue with the movie - it missed some rich storytelling opportunities in favor of focusing on the "pretty" thing rotting in the house and her ghost. (Which I also thought was unnecessary since Lily seemed to feel she was also rotting, yet her body was discovered, removed, and presumably laid to rest. Same with Iris. The only one who could make a statement like "this is how I rot" was Polly.) While I get that Polly never told Iris how her story ended - thus Iris not writing a proper conclusion to the book - there was certainly enough story about Polly to fill up a best-selling novel. This should have also offered a deeper plot. I felt like the movie never wasted an opportunity to waste an opportunity.
shareI felt like the movie never wasted an opportunity to waste an opportunity.
Not to mention, she never told iris how her story ended, yet she knew enough to name the book about her "The Woman In The Walls". The pace was just too slow, to the point of being irritating. It shouldn't take 75 seconds to reach for a piece of paper. Lilly was also unbelievable mousy. I've never met anyone that meek, and find it hard to be believeable. No real character or story development.
sharePerhaps Iris never realized how literally correct her title was, but named it such because the ghost moved through walls?
__ __ __
Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room!"--Pres. Merkin Muffley
It's metaphorical rot. They're rotting because they can't move on.
shareThank you so much. I'm usually a fan of the slow burn, but I think my issue was exactly yours. I wasn't busy at work while I was watching, it just didn't hold my attention at all. I appreciate it!
shareI must disagree with the mood of the modern era that demands those benchmarks of modern film-making to satisfy the most ephemeral of attention spans. This film and the underlying story belong to a genre that does not ask for an appreciative audience, and certainly does not cater to any. It meets the criteria of the genre and it quite excels in all categories within the genre. It won't make a great piece for the distracted viewer. Only viewers who crave this genre will actually appreciate it, this story, and this film.
shareCan you cram the word "genre" in this a few more times? I think some of us missed it.
shareYou must be the distracted viewer of whom they speak. Maybe this genre and all the subcategories of this genre aren't for you. You may not have a genre.
Genre.
Can you cram the word "genre" in this a few more times? I think some of us missed it.Lol! share
i'm actually a fan of the slow, cerebral type of movies that most might find boring or dislike. unfortunately, this couldn't even hold the attention of its target demographic.
shareI usually am too. I wanted so badly to love this movie, and I did for most of the journey, but I lost heart as soon as I realized there was no real story, or answers, o even any questions.
It really could've had a rich plot but for whatever reason they decided to throw that to the wayside.
Proud member of AACAR (Americans Against Crappy American Remakes)
a "genre"?? a "NAVET" :))) haha
shareOh yeah? Name one other movie that is this slow and plotless. You seem to think it's a genre in itself. Have you seen many horror films or are you just talking out of your @$$? Not even the original Nosferatu is this slow.
shareYour post, filled with words and phrases just to prove that you know words and phrases, struck me as being a vague, empty, and pointless as this entire film.
Cheers.
Thank you for this. I was so distracted by the tsunami of nothing actually happening that I managed to miss the point when something actually did happen. I wish I had come here and read your post twenty minutes into the movie - I could then have better used my time by cleaning the bathroom, or the cupboards, or the cat's litter tray...
This was a reply to McBare but it didn't appear as such.