Rift

I went into this not knowing what to expect. Is it a slasher? Ghost story? Psychological thriller? Home invasion? I ended up finding out it's a slow mystery. The movie runs a little too long but the characters are interesting and the movie had a decent plot and for that I give it 6 stars. Not bad at all, good, just not great. The actors performances were great though. It's unique to find LGBTQ mysteries so see it for yourself if this subject interests you.

This is a great addition to the queer horror catalog, about a broken relationship that we see spark and grow again between Gunnar and Einar, with one of the most sad endings I've seen in a hot minute. Sprinkled with some supernatural creepiness that grow a sense of dread and saddness and you cant seem to understand where it comes from or why Gunnar is in the middle of this with Einar, each time a small clue revealed until the ending hit you hard.

"Rökkur"/"Rift" (Iceland 2017) This is a pretty well crafted psychological thriller that will keep you guessing right up to the end (and beyond!). Months after their relationship has ended, Gunnar is awakened at 3:03am by his ex-boyfriend, Einar. His message is cryptic, "Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night and get the feeling that something is with you? Or someone?". He is calling from his family's remote cabin...and Gunnar is sufficiently worried to get dressed, hop in his car, and drive all night to get there ASAP. From this point on NOTHING is what it seems! The acting is very good, the stark scenery of the Icelandic countryside is chilling, and the storytelling is creepy as hell.....I'm just not quite sure exactly what happened. LOL. I have some theories, but if you watch this one -- I will be interested to hear your thoughts on just what this film is about. Many reviews have called it "Hitchcockian" -- but I've never seen an entire Hitchcock film to say if that is true or not....but it sounds good on paper. ;) [4/5]

I decided to watch the film because it promised to be a non-mainstream little gem. Considering the boundary conditions (especially the small budget and the short shooting time) I was really amazed by the actors' performances. I had the feeling that they prepared excellently for their parts, while the director knew exactly what to show. The atmosphere is captivating (although a bit cliché and borrowed from countless other drama-horror movies) and the Island landscapes superb (however not really owing to the director but to nature).

All things being the film was very promising, but ended up being very mediocre. The characters do not evolve much, new random personality elements appear without being explained or supported, the story line sucks heavily and the ending is predictable and nonsensical at the same time. Countless questions go by unanswered. For some this is not a problem, since they are simply connected to the heroes' past and are open to interpretation, others, however, are crucial to the story line (like why on earth at a given time one would in the middle of the night get off the car at start wandering in a deserted place) and make the protagonists simply look stupid.

Watch the film if you like National Geographic documentaries, enjoy the sceneries shown and the acting, but switch off any need to explain or even remotely understand the plot.

Ahhh, the power of the Indie. Do whatever, splash whatever paint on any canvas, call it "art" and let the viewer decide because the artist has no clue.

Oh, sorry, that's just 10% of the movie. The rest of it was nearly fantastic. Well written, completely believable acting, beautifully shot, awesome score and song (in credits.) Not to mention, you truly believed the love between the leads.

But, oddly, and as that paint splashes, brief moments of "horror" are spread throughout this movie which is mostly a drama. An effective drama and those horror elements almost want to stand in the way of this being elevated.

The movie's 1st hero is "Steve Buscemi as Norman Bates" who goes back to control, er, I mean, be the dominate one to the submissive, er, lemme start over. Concerned "Norman" thinks his ex might do something bad. Turns out, his ex is slightly off and he might have motivations of his own.

"Norman" and his ex spend several days in his ex's parents' isolated cabin and while they revisit their recent and abrupt breakup, weird things are going on around the town with a population of 2. (Maybe more, depends on what you call "population.")

The weird stuff, I guess could blend in with the main story, but it also could've easily been deleted and though it might have been a thick and heavy drama, I probably would've loved it more. Especially without the ending we did see.

No spoilers, but it's another indie-cliché of a finale that's kind of disappointing. Especially in a movie so competently made in so many ways.

Well, it's nearly 2 hours. Maybe we can see a cut of this without the weird, Exacto Knife Knocker Killer and his Kid.

***

Final thoughts: Shudder, oh, you "horror" streaming service. Disappoint me, you do more than impress me. You keep getting movies that have 1-10% horror elements and feature them as the latest in horror and/or *EXCLUSIVE TO SHUDDER!* Huh. 1-10% horror IS NOT A HORROR MOVIE. It's a drama or comedy or action with so little horror, it's like calling Disney's The Lion King horror since it had 40 seconds of scary scenes in an hour and half. Tsk. Please stick to what you advertise.