Prolific writer, director, producer Tony Walsh shows us once again how not to write a script, and why these three roles need to be three separate people for quality control purposes. Let me state in no uncertain terms, this is not a good movie. It had a $6M budget, there are no excuses for what we got.
The rake tells the story of a brother and sister, with their... other sister? Female friend? Long lost cousin? Figment of their imagination? We never really find out for sure. And you'd best be ok with that because literally every other character has the same treatment, zero introduction let alone any kind of character building.
This may sound like a world shattering flaw in the film, but worry not dear reader because in actual fact the completely inauthentic speech patterns of each character and their interactions will shatter any kind of illusion of world building long before you even realise you were never introduced to them.
Exposition monologues, unexplained aggression, unrealistic reactions, cheesy lines... just really below elementary writing that you might expect from a beginner writer who hasn't yet found their voice. The kind that traditionally was never in a position where they could make a movie until they developed more into their craft.
This was a movie made for the sake of saying the movie was made. A movie that mistakes gore for horror at the expense of any kind of real threat, suspense or audience participation. There is no theme, no message beneath the surface layer, no depth of story. What remains is a shallow film, where you won't really know who anyone is then some random gore take place. Why the random gore takes place? Well, don't worry we're never told that either so at least it's consistent. Don't watch this movie, seriously. It's a waste of your time and a complete insult to your intelligence.
