Sinister

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mODz1OpTo_8

The following is my analysis of the film Sinister.  I am especially interested in limited locations

films as they are the ones that can be made on shoe string budgets. Spoilers are ahead.

While Sinister is a must see for limited location filmmakers, I found it only moderately entertaining.  This film stars Ethan Hawke and is primarily set in one house with a few scenes in a second house.  It tells the story of a non-fiction crime author trying to reclaim his former success by moving into a house where a family had been murdered and the killer has not been brought to justice.

The director does an excellent job of avoiding any sort of claustrophobic feeling with the spacious home. Some of the film may have been shot on a set as Hawke's office looked bigger than the Oval office and the attic was also inordinately large. The house is also a single story structure.  I believe the film would have actually worked fine or even better in a normal size house.  Curiously, the filmmakers utilize little of the exterior despite being situated in a rural wooded area. Also actor Fred Thompson has a cameo where he appears in the morning and at night so one presumes he was paid for only one day of shooting.

The confines of the house are expanded primarily using "found footage" of families being murdered, a television interview, and web camera computer phone conversations.  Additional stimulus and information is provided by a sheriff deputy who eagerly wants to help Hawke who is considered to be a celebrity.

The weakness of many limited location films is the reason for staying in the one location is often forced.  In Sinister, Hawke is desperate to write another best selling novel and becomes more adamant about staying in the house as he begins to piece together the mystery of various murdered families in what would become a blockbuster.  He says things like, "I can't go back to editing college textbooks.  I can't." They discuss things like not eating out for awhile while their old house is being sold. It has all of the signs of some so-called screenwriting expert piling on reasons for doing the irrational. Hawke's wife played by Juliet Rylance has the thankless task of constantly nagging him about his past and not wanting to be part of another horrific murder investigation. Ultimately,  the reason for staying in the house feels contrived or at least putting his family in harm's way does. No amount of money is going to justify endangering your family.

What should have the filmmakers done? Sinister is filled with backstories that could have been expanded. The long suffering wife who remains loyal on the ups and downs of an author's career.  The teenage son who is bullied at school because of Hawke's notoriety.  A troubled younger daughter who draws on the walls. The sheriff  who makes it clear that Hawke's family is not welcome.  I know what the filmmakers wanted to do.  All of these people serve as opposition to Hawke's goal of unravelling this mystery and writing the book.  Unfortunately, they also serve as easy and valid excuses to abandon the endeavor.  By pushing forward, Hawke comes across as selfish and reckless.

I think the story would have worked better if the backstories were not directly related to Hawke's writing career.  Perhaps, Hawke wants to write the book because it allows him to stay home and keep his family together whereas his previous career took him away. Also I don't think most people understand what a text book editor does and  would not be sympathetic about not wanting to do that job.  Perhaps, Hawke's wife could have been the one with drinking problem.  Perhaps, the son's behavioral problems stem from something else.  The point is that the filmmakers don't offer a valid reason for staying at the home once danger appears.

Another issue is that the mystery is often hard to follow.  Since Hawke is an author,  it would make sense to recap what has proceeded to his publisher and thus the audience.

Lastly, the mysterious villain of this movie is profoundly absent.  We catch glimpses but never get a sense he is active or exactly what his goals are.

Sinister has good scares and great production value but doesn't quite hit the mark with a lead character that needs to be smarter and a villain that needs to be a bit more visible.  Anyone who is making a limited locations movie should invest some time in watching this movie for its positive as well as negative aspects. 

Absentia

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aa1UJLqYeBU

Absentia inspires with its ability to create genuine scares and intrigue with so

little.  As you watch, you get the impression that writer/ director Mike Flanagan 

wanted to make a movie and wrote a story based on the resources he had which 

are an apartment with a nearby spooky pedestrian tunnel. Absentia is the story of 

a wayward young woman who visits her older sister Tricia who is about to 

declare her missing husband dead in absentia.  The story has a genuine sense  

of gravitas as the day approaches, and the story takes a pointed twist when the 

husband reappears. Flanagan organically and powerfully keeps the story in 

one location by making Tricia feel genuinely compelled to stay in her 

apartment in the hope that her missing husband will return.

The strongest aspect of this movie is its direction especially the use of darkness

rather than graphic imagery although there's plenty of that to frighten.  Scenes 

are often framed in such a way that you get an vague impression what is going on. 

There are a number of instances where something out of focus in the background  

creates a suspense.  I find long pedestrian tunnels to be inherently creepy and Mike

Flanagan uses it to the utmost. 

The cinematography is flat but functional.  You don't get any of those dramatic

shafts of light piercing the darkness.  It's bare bones.

The set design is where Absentia really underperforms.  At the front door, there is 

nothing but a grey wall.  A plant or a coat rack at the entrance would have prevented

those scenes from looking amateurish.  Callie's bedroom also  had a barren look that

undermined the quality of the movie.

The cast was good.  I especially liked Tricia played by Courtney Bell who came off as 

very real person.

The biggest issue I had was with the story.  It wants to be multi-faceted but doesn't

quite pull it off.  The story starts off with being about the missing husband haunting the

wife he left behind and then it turns into this monster movie as we learn of other 

missing people. The story further evolves into one where perfectly logical 

non-supernatural actions explain everything that proceeded as we learn of Callie's 

drug abuse and the rocky relationship Tricia had with her missing husband.  

I know what  Mike Flanagan wanted to do but I'm not sure he pulls it off.  A 

number of the Netflix user comments expressed disappointment that they did 

not actually see the monster.   The problem may have been less that the monster 

wasn't seen but that it was introduced late into the story.

I think the missing husband needed to be more prominent in the story.   I also 

thought the detective could have been a bigger influence in the plot. To a 

certain extent, Absentia spins its wheels with footage of Callie jogging and praying

whereas these secondary characters could enrich the story. The screenplay was 

a few rewrites from where it should have been.  

Actually, Absentia has two other locations, a police station and a hospital.  The police 

station was a generic office, and the hospital did look like some sort of medical facility.

I thought both of these locations could been have cut from the story with little effect.

Perhaps, the savings could have been put into set dressing.

Another budget buster involved police cars in front of the townhouse. I think the scene 

could have been omitted or toned down.  It was something that required permits while 

everything else have been done guerrilla style.

Overall, I enjoyed this movie immensely and was certainly inspired to continue with my

own limited location movie.  While there is always this joy in finding undiscovered 

gems, it is equally disheartening that Absentia hasn't propelled Mike Flannagan into 

the ranks of  those that work at the major studios.  Absentia has received some buzz 

on the festival circuit and apparently Flannagan is coming out with another feature

film in the near future. I found this on Netflix so there is still hope that someone at a major

production company will  ask him to helm a big budget film .

Phil Hwang