An Attempt to Connect Leads to Broader Separation

From left: Riley Keough, Jaeden Martell, and Lia McHugh
in "The Lodge"
Photo Credit: Imdb.com

Given how many horror films there have been that deal with characters being stranded in an isolated location, it can be a challenge to have this setup play out in a way that audiences haven’t yet seen.  With a restricted location and small cast of characters that these films typically have, you have to work hard within your limits to deliver a unique approach to this popular concept.

Directing duo Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala pull this off with their new horror movie, “The Lodge,” where they take moviegoers on a shattering sojourn where the characters reveal their darkest, most troubled selves.

Richard (Richard Armitage) decides to take his new girlfriend, Grace (Riley Keough), and his children, Aiden (Jaeden Martell) and Mia (Lia McHugh), to a remote lodge for a vacation, following the passing of his wife, Laura (Alicia Silverstone), who he was soon about to divorce.  While he has to leave them to go on business, Richard hopes to that his children take the time to bond with Grace.  Soon, frightening events occur that threaten to bring out Grace’s unsettling past.

Just as Keough exemplified in Trey Edward Shults' “It Comes at Night,” she has a clear talent for delivering stunning  performances in the horror genre.  Keough has her character exhibit a reserved, yet friendly persona when we first meet her, hinting at someone who’s still trying to recover from her dark background.  There’s a lightness to her that’s trying to come out as she attempts to connect with Aiden and Mia, which makes it all of the more saddening when they ignore her, making her feel dejected.  All of this, mixed with the traumatic effects that her past has had on her, creates someone who slowly begins to lose her grip on reality, and Keough exemplifies that fragility as the isolation of the lodge and the lack of acceptance from Aiden and Mia begin to take destructive tolls on her.

Martell and McHugh are just as strong as two children who are trying to get through the loss of their mom and being stranded with a well-meaning, but enigmatic stranger.  They show the distress of losing a parent, while also presenting the understandable refusal of not wanting someone to take over the role of that deceased parent, and the way that Martell and McHugh are able to bring these emotional aspects to their performances and make it all look so genuine help to create an incendiary trio of characters with them and Keough that brings you into a twisted unraveling of sanity within the confines of their getaway home.

The screenplay by Franz, Fiala, and Sergio Casci has some intriguing parallels to that of Franz and Fiala’s 2015 horror film, “Goodnight Mommy.”  Both films have a limited cast; they take place in a secluded location; they deal with lookalikes (the film makes Keough and Stone look kind of similar); and they deal with two children who exhibit tensions with a maternal figure.  Despite these similarities, the writers are able to take their concept in a heart-pounding and disturbing new direction.  It plays with your expectations of what’s real and what’s not, and just when you think it’s going down a familiar route, Franz, Fiala, and Casci manage to toss you back into the unexpected.  And, although it may seem like at times that this film is trying to copy Ari Aster’s “Hereditary” with its motifs, “The Lodge” is able to overcome that because of the unique ways in which it attempts to trick your mind.

In addition to this, the screenwriters offer plenty time to establish the family and give us an idea of the troubles through which they were going before the events of the film.  And, we’re provided with just enough information about Grace to make us want to learn more, with the movie never revealing everything right away.  A decent portion of the movie’s first third has us seeing the family interact before they travel to the lodge, slowly setting up the tension that carries over to their vacation home and throws the characters’ lives into turmoil as their grieving turns into the need to survive.

The limited lighting from Thimios Bakatakis’ cinematography has us peering through and fearing the darkness of the lodge’s rooms and hallways.  And, between being shown the claustrophobic confines of the lodge and the intimidating expanse of the outside, we’re left reeling from a sense of hopelessness as Grace, Aiden, and Mia become more entangled in the horror that unfolds.

Just as Franz and Fiala accomplished with “Goodnight Mommy,” they’re able to construct superb sequences of tensions.  Similar to that movie, many of these are effectively low-key, carefully increasing the anxiety-inducing nature of the film, only to then bring us into a final 15 minutes that send you into a state of shock.  However, given how well this duo sets up the story, you’ll find yourself locked in “The Lodge” well before its startling conclusion.

Grade: A-