Rift

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.

Ambiguous, hunting, unsettling, painfully sad and tormenting at times, this movie is psychologically true in terms of capturing the inner world of characters lost in past trauma and broken love, all contained in the space of shivering beautiful icelandic landscape.

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]

"Two men's broken relationship is tested as they are haunted by a supernatural entity awakened by their grief."

That's what it was about?!

I can sheepishly and honestly say that I didn't understand what was going on from beginning to end. That's a light exaggeration as I did understand some of the relationship between the two ex-boyfriends, but I was lost as to what the hell was happening around them. The odd thing is that is what kept me watching it, ultimately proving to be a futile exercise. The countryside is beautiful in this bizarre film from Iceland. The acting wasn't bad and there are ominous moments in this very slow moving film, but they don't make any sense and it seems to me that is on purpose. Obscurity seems to be the goal here.