encyes

Even Satan himself couldn't save this terrible anthology. Poor acting, weak lighting, incoherent storytelling, and absurd, music-driven flash cuts cripple the film from the start. It's not worth even ten minutes-and you can tell that almost immediately. If there's any lesson to be learned about staying out of the shadows in this battle of good versus evil, it applies here: stay far away from this realm of shadows, or you'll waste an hour and a half of your life. In the end, it's not evil but bad that triumphs.

This movie feels like it was born from a single idea, hastily stretched into a screenplay with little thought beyond getting it on screen. The result is confusing and convoluted. Much of the film is either left unexplained or awkwardly forced to fit the narrative.

It's not really a detective story or a thriller. It tries too hard to emulate The Silence of the Lambs but falls short in every possible way. By the end, I just wanted my two hours back.

If the main protagonist had been more relatable, the film might have been more tolerable. Unfortunately, the character of Lee Harker is too deeply flawed. Maika Monroe portrays her as a mumbling, distracted, quirky Gen Z agent whom the FBI would likely pull from field duty. She's so frustrating to watch that it's hard to root for her to solve the case.

Even Nicolas Cage, as the villain Longlegs, can't save the film. The makeup does a good job of disguising him, but the illusion collapses the moment he speaks - it's unmistakably Cage, and that shatters any sense of menace.

Too many elements remain unexplained. The film hints at themes of magic and satanism, yet fails to develop key story points - the purpose of the dolls, the metallic orb, or why the fathers are brainwashed to kill. Poor storytelling leaves these crucial details frustratingly unresolved.