Ghosts of the Void

Writer/Director Jason Miller does a lot with a little in this story set almost entirely in a single vehicle. A newly unhoused couple spends their first night in their car parked in a wooded area. Both are dealing with mental health issues that make the audience question their perceptions of reality. The film relies heavily on the conflict between this couple, but it's able to deliver. However, everything outside their car is less compelling. Fans of no budget horror like Resolution, The Battery, Paranormal Activity, or The Blair Witch Project will appreciate the ingenuity in storytelling. 8/10.

The movie starts off with potential. The 2 protagonists are down on their luck, forced to sleep in their car because they're running out of money and have been served eviction notices. The protagonists come off as likable and sympathetic at first, during their banter in the car. And the setting and premise seems right for a horror. In the opening 25 mins or so, I was fully expecting a good horror

But the movie fails to deliver . We keep getting these annoying and repetitive chick-flick flashback scenes where the couple argues about stuff, such as the male protagonist's writing. They pull an eye-rolling twist at the end. The villains look like Darth Maul for some reason

Skip it.

It's just depressing. It doesn't even have the merit of wonderfully lit scenes. The story had promise but it's slow to start and doesn't get better. You find out a piece of the story here and there but it never comes together.

There is a lot of time spent building up the main characters but only a bit about how they wound up in their current situation.

Very little is known about the villains until a brief scene just near the end. There is a scene where she gets back at one of them but it's never mentioned again. We don't even know if one of the main characters lived or died. It's left to the viewer to figure it out.

It had a lot of promise but fell flat.

This is a movie that I got the chance to watch via a screener thanks to Mitch from Millennial PR. Funny enough, when I first got this screener, there was an embargo. The link that I had expired by the time I went to watch this. They were great enough to send me over a different way to watch this so I wanted to give it a go and review this. I did come in blind, knowing that this did well at a festival. I also knew that this was a 2023 release and in the horror genre.

Synopsis: spending the night in the car, a newly-homeless woman wrestles with exhaustion, her crumbling marriage and the threat of mysterious, masked strangers.

Here we are following Jen (Tedra Millan) and Tyler Wilson (Michael Reagan). They are in the car and head down a lane into a park. Through different things, we learn that they lost their house. They were evicted. Everything they could take is in their vehicle. They are low on money, of course, so they avoided staying in a motel. It seems like they have people who would help them, but there's pride. They're going to sleep in the car in hopes that they can save money and figure out what they're going to do next.

The backstory here is that Tyler is an aspiring writer. He got a short story in an anthology book and hoping to keep that momentum going to write a novel. Jen is supportive, but there seems to be issues with her husband. He deals with depression as one of the major ones. He goes into a bout of this when Jen calls the version of his story that she read a 'first draft'. He spirals and turns to alcohol, which is another of his issues. This is partially what led to them losing their home. Jen is doing what she can to make ends meet, but what she is bringing in isn't enough.

Their night isn't made any easier. Someone is messing with their vehicle. Tyler thinks it is teens and they should ignore it. Jen gets spooked by a homeless man, Samuel Taylor, and we see that she has panic attacks. Things ramp up when a boot is placed on their back tire. That is just the beginning of the nightmare when we see three people in masks that are stalking our couple.

That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is that I rather enjoyed what this movie is doing. I could connect here. Now I've never been evicted, but due to life choices and student loan debt, I've been toeing the line of being broke. Seeing Jen try to figure out what her plan it was something that I've had to go through. I've also been in a relationship where my partner wasn't the most supportive either. In the case there, I was Tyler and Jen where I was way more supportive. This did help me connect with our two characters for sure.

Now since I feel bad for them, I also felt anxious when they're being messed with. It is them being kicked while they're down. We have the homeless man, who warns them to not park here. This encounter spooks Jen to her core. Tyler isn't sleeping much so he gets annoyed that she is as rattled as she is. I'll be honest here; I think he's being too hard on her. Their financial situation is also making things worse. They're sleeping in the car to save money. Tyler still doesn't get it as we saw he bought a bottle of booze along with peanut butter. The latter seemed partially like a cover. He has substance abuse issues that are unresolved so that tracks as well. Their car gets booted and she's afraid to take his advice to drive over it. If it punctures their tire, they don't have the money to fix it. She also doesn't want to use any more gas than they must. That is when these masked men show up.

It is here that I'm going to tread lightly. The title of the movie lingered with me. It made me wonder about the men in the red, white and blue masks. Are there ghosts there to mess with them? Is that why the homeless man warned them? Or was he warning them about teens that mess around with people here? Now there is also a bit of a shanty town in the woods. Tyler starts to believe they're the ones messing with them. We don't see people there though. There is also the notion that I picked up that these masked men aren't here. They are a representation of what is going down in this area. This is open ended and up for interpretation. It also could be a combo of the questions that I pose as well. I do appreciate that this movie made me think about what is happening. Given the evidence and seeing how things play out, I tend to believe that this trio are ghosts and push our characters to the outcome we see. I also think that they're susceptible due to stress and the situation.

That should be enough for the story so then over to the acting. I thought that Millan was great as our lead. I feel for her and everything that she is going through. I've been in her spot and had to worry about how things would get taken care of. Seeing her struggle tugged at my heartstrings. I do also think that Reagan plays well off her. He's another character I can connect with, just not to the same extent. They work well together. I'd also say that Matt Bowdren, Chris Amos and Eli Hamilton are all good as our masked men. To just finish out the cast, Taylor, Carter Shimp and Nancy Wagner rounded this out for what was needed.

All that is left then is filmmaking. I thought that the cinematography was good. There were interesting things done with the framing by positioning us in the car, so we feel trapped like our couple. They also use the windows for reflections that I liked. It is also quite dark out here since it has tree cover. That ramps up the tension. It also captures the dire straits that our couple is in that I appreciated. I'd also credit the soundtrack for building the atmosphere as well.

In conclusion, this is a solid lower budget, independent film. What I will say though, this does well in hiding that. It just feels like a movie working with a smaller cast. I like building the backstory of our two lead characters. It was something I could connect with. Then putting them through a nightmare when they're at a low point is heartbreaking. This is well-made. I'll credit the cinematography and the framing there. It is edited well to bring flashbacks to fill in more of the story. It also brings the overwhelming sense of dread that Jen is carrying. This won't be for everyone, but I thought this did interesting things with the story it presents. If what I said interests you, give it a watch.

My Rating: 7 out of 10.