[REEL QUICK REVIEW] – Absentia

Director: Mike Flanagan (Oculus)

Starring: Katie Parker, Courtney Bell

Certificate: 15

Run-time: 87 minutes

https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/aa1UJLqYeBU&source=uds

IN SHORT: Technical shortcomings and a meagre budget undermine Absentia‘s well-crafted mystery.

Absentia, directed by Mike Flanagan (Oculus), explores the story of Dan Riley, an AWOL husband who, after seven years, was legally declared ‘dead in absentia’ by the government. With Dan’s wife experiencing constant flashbacks of her deceased husband, her concerned sister becomes convinced that Dan’s disappearance is tied to a tunnel at the end of their street; a tunnel with a long history of unexplainable activity. Almost Lovecraftian in its mythos and with well-worked characterisation, Absentia is a different change of pace from most modern horrors.

Absentia‘s admirable level of originality is unfortunately tarnished by its amateur production. The most distracting element is the extremely poor sound design, which sounds like it was written using a Casio keyboard. Every dramatic pause in the film is underscored by the same, grating two-note loop. The camerawork, which was shot on the Canon 5D (a favourite of poor student film-makers) also highlights the lacklustre budget.  DSLR’s like the 5D have a shallow depth of field, which gives the film a commercialised, artificial look, betraying the intimate atmos of the script.

Despite solid acting and effective pacing that keeps you guessing with a creative use of flashbacks, Absentia hits a brick wall when the more fantastical elements of the story come into play. The limited budget ($70,000) hampers the climax of the story, resulting in a less-than-satisfying payoff that raises more questions than it answers. Overall, Absentia is a well-intentioned but ultimately, too ambitious horror that is more tense than terrifying, more suspenseful than scary.