Movie Man Darian Watching All Night Long

The Turning 

This film is a mess! I have seen already a number of horrible films this month and it’s only the first month of the year. Theirs been awful amounts of films released this month with the exception of bad boys and the gentlemen. The Turning is a film that really dose fail on all fronts as it lacks any sense of interest, it has no depth within its characters and the scares you can see coming a mile away and then by the last act of the film the story just goes off the freaking rails. The Turning is one of the worst and most boring horror films I’ve seen recently and I know I also said very similar things to the Grudge (2020) but both are awful but what this film does in its final act is so unforgivable in the worst way possible. 

Firstly, The pacing oh wow the pacing was terrible. I complain a lot if the pacing is slow because it matters honestly as you should be always compelled by the narrative and never feel as if it’s being rushed or dragged out. Now that being said this film is a slow burn and I don’t mind slow burn films. Their have been tons of slow burn films I liked such as Hereditary which was greatly done due to its performances and story at hand. The only difference with the Turnings approach is that it’s freaking awful. The plot never really gets to any interesting aspect of the story as for me it felt like constant build up and by the time it did get in any sense interesting the film is wrapping the story up already. It’s a slow build up to essentially nothing it was a hollowed our story with terrible pacing that felt like 4 hours long in length and by the second act I wanted it to be over. 

Secondly, The cast do try to make the best out of what they have as the only person who is giving at all a good performance is Barbra Marten who tries to elevate the story with a very mysterious and quiet performance that actually does work in some places. She’s the only person who gave a entertaining performance everyone else was not that great which is hard for me to say as I love Brooklyn Prince and McKenzie Davis. Both actresses who’ve given solid work in their past work it just didn’t work here sadly and in terms of performances theirs only one actor who gave a compelling performance. 

Lastly, The Turning is another horribly done horror film that you’ll find in the 5 dollar bin by next year this is a hollow, messy and boring film that doesn’t attempt anything to entertain you. The scares are mediocre and the narrative is all over the place the performances weren’t the best and it just failed on nearly every level The Turning is truly awful. 

This film revolves around a woman who’s been requested to take care of these two children who have been born into privilege and when the ghost of the house  start to haunt them unusual things start to come into play 

Rated PG - 13 : for terror, violence, disturbing images, brief strong language and some suggestive content

Barbra Marten : Barbra is the saving grace of this film! She is an actress I’ve not seen in any previous work prior to seeing this film. She brings a great layer of mystery and creepiness to her performance. Throughout the film she we learn bits and pieces about her but for the most part she’s very much kept to herself and we don’t find out much and I like that and she’s really the only one that has her head on her shoulders and even though she can come across as rude a lot of the time she’s the only one that can deal with what goes on around the house on a daily basis. Barbra sparks her dialogue to life with fantastic energy and great fun delivery as she can be so witty and Deliciously fun by bringing a sense of dry humour and serious elements to her dialogue and really make the scene fun but also when it came to showing the more drama heavy moments is able to go their emotionally. She isn’t in the film as much as I would of wanted but when she is she steals the scenes with her great onscreen presence and in all honesty she’s the only one who knew what film she was in and I mean that by like she took the poorly written script and tried the best to her ability to elevate it with her fantastic commitment to the film with a very well layered performance that is entertaining but can’t save the mess of a film we are handed. She has a darkness in her eyes that made her so unpredictable but also be able to bring such a vulnerability as well Barbra gave a tremendous performance in a poorly done film she really is the standout and did a solid job with what she was given. 

Floria Sigismondi : Floria gives a poorly directed film! Floria is a filmmaker I am unfamiliar with  as she has not done that much of directional work but from what I’ve seen here I am not tempted to check any of her other work out. As she gave a horribly directed film that is not just awful but a mess. She tries to bring this story and make it a chilling and creepy film when in reality it came off as predictable unoriginal and cheesy. Their was nothing new she tried to bring to make this horror film standout from the rest as she also never really cares about the characters so why should we. She did not properly flesh out the characters to get me to care or invest in them at all and they seemed interesting at the surface but dose not dig deeper when she should have and it leaves the characters being extremely forgettable and the plot was super thin. As the plot was all over and it seemed like a paranoia film where it’s all these creepy illusions and we don’t know if she’s lost her mind and it was interesting to an extent but what she brought to the third act was horrible it was a total what the hell was that moment as it threw me for a 360 and let me so angry. The scares are horribly executed and the pacing moves at a snail pace she tries to think this film is deeper then it really is as it never attempts to be anything at all and just comes off as bland. Her direction was awful and I hope she learned to never make a terrible horror film like this ever again.