The Painted

The idea of souls trapped in paintings and thus haunting a house wherever the paints go is pretty unique. It's that classic horror of "the paintings move/eyes follow me" that surprisingly is rarely seen in horror films. The story of how the painting became possessed by a demon was also pretty good, although it took a lot of expiation during the final third of the movie to finally catch the audience up. And the character development of the kids was also decent. Usually a movie will just show some basic family drama with little to no resolution, or they just magically get along at the very end. Here tho there is clear animosity from the older teenage daughter towards her much younger sister (cliche sure), but as the movie develops we see them not only start to repair their relationship but by the end actually the older daughter takes on a much more nurturing relationship towards her little sister. So props to the movie having some actual character development. The movie is also set in the 1960s which, while it never really shows this era well beyond a few scenes, it at least removes the problem of having cell phones, internet etc of the modern era.

Where the movie misses marks for me are the parents, aka the actual main characters. For some reason this movie had to follow the modern trope of making the dad a jerk and sex obsessed while making the mom the universal victim despite being the least caring woman on the planet. And the sad thing is the dad actually does a lot to protect his kids while his wife is always gone doing her own thing, yet somehow we are still meant to see him as the bad guy. And to have him randomly just shout during a normal conversation with zero provocation is just unhinged on the writers part. People don't act like that.

If the writers got their heads out of their you know what, this could've been a solid flick.

I wasn't expecting much from The Painted and was surprised at how many points it got right. Well shot, with some excellent special effects, some good suspense and genuinely creepy at times, it showed real effort if at times not exactly succeeding. The acting was kind of all over the place, but it was the casting that really failed. It seems the 5 leads, all playing a family, did not seem related in any way at all. The actor playing the son looked way too old and the actress playing his teenage sister was excellent but neither she or the young girl seemed related to him at all. It was almost as if they chose 5 random actors with no thought that this was suppose to be a believable family. The effort to recreate the 1960s also was a big fail. Still I enjoyed this and it even had one scene, bordering on funny but extremely realistic that I loved. Worth a one time watch.

I had never heard about this 2024 horror movie titled "The Painted" from writer and director Sasha Sibley prior to stumbling upon it by sheer chance here in 2025. And given my love of all things horror, and with this being a horror movie that I had never seen, of course I opted to check it out.

And I will say that the movie's synopsis certainly sounded interesting enough. Writer Sasha Sibley put together an entertaining and enjoyable enough script and storyline. I have to say that I really did like the concept idea with the paintings.

While I was not familiar with the majority of the actors and actresses on the cast list, then I will say that the acting performances were good. I do enjoy watching unfamiliar and new talents on the screen whenever I watch a movie. I do believe that the only familiar face on the screen for me was actor Sean Bridgers.

The special effects in the movie were good and helped further the movie's narrative nicely.

"The Painted" is a watchable horror movie, no doubt about that. But it was hardly an outstanding foray into the horror genre, and the movie just doesn't warrants more than a single viewing. But maybe newcomers to the horror genre will enjoy the movie way more than I did, as a seasoned horror veteran.

My rating of writer and director Sasha Sibley's 2024 movie "The Painted" lands on a five out of ten stars.

Basically that...

What I did like about it was it's very old fashioned style. None of the OTT flourishes that permeate Horror films these days. No extreme sadism or violence. No annoying overacting.

And, like others here have said, it is a good concept, rather imaginative, and I thought the visuals were done well, especially in the way they blended the 'Real' with the Unreal (I don't want to give too much away...)

Also, with many films like this where a family is going through this kind of stuff, usually the acting is not so hot with a lot of the Drama overdone, etc. In this case, I really did like the way the characters were developed (primarily the parents, the children really didn't have much to do) and their reactions and the way they dealt with each other, particularly in dramatic or uncomfortable scenes, were very well done, realistic, and believable.

Also, like some others have said here too, the ending is probably not as effective as it could be, finishing with a bit of a whimper...

But, if you are not expecting a super modern Horror movie with all kinds of extreme violence and effects and such and can appreciate an older fashioned yet imaginative style, then you might find this one fairly entertaining. I gave it a decent '6'~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~MY PARTICULAR WAY OF RATING:

5 - Flawed enough probably to give it a pass.

6. A decently passable story maybe worth a watch.

7. A solid film, well made, effective, and entertaining.

And, obviously, you can probably figure out what above and below these would mean... : )

I appreciate the challenges that come with a low-budget production, and I made an effort to manage my expectations while watching. The horror concept is fresh and intriguing but lacks support from the cast's performances and script. The lead actress's expressions could have been more nuanced, though the older daughter demonstrated stronger acting skills.

I appreciate the seamless movement of the paintings, particularly when one is reflected in the mirror. This aspect of the movie truly stands out to me and enhances my overall enjoyment. If a more talented cast were assembled or if this concept were integrated into the Conjuring franchise, it could enhance the film's overall potential.