What I didn’t like:
Eva’s boyfriend, Stiff, the only one with a solution to Krister’s supernatural problem, was dismissed too easily and conveniently. Eva transforms into a more mature woman, dumping him to care for her father. I get that maybe Kirster’s only real problem was the overwhelming guilt with the situation he was in, but the ending suggested that not only does the father still take his ritual advice before going to bed, but that Marianne is indeed more than just a byproduct from a guilty conscience. I also thought the film was a bit light on horror. But compared to the similar 2009 film, The Eclipse, which had the same tone, yet brief and heavy horror elements, the lack of them may have been what helped this one.
What I did like:
The setting was perfect and I could see the supernatural playing out in the sleepy northern parts of Sweden. The cast formed a very realistic friends and family network. The story plays out like a typical family drama where women die and daughters hate their fathers and date losers they don’t approve of, all against a waning supernatural backdrop. While slow paced, the film makes great use of each scene. In the first, we learn that Kirster is cheating on his wife, and in the next, she’s dead, foreshadowing the gratuitous flashbacks throughout. The best part about the film is figuring out what exactly Marianne is. Is she just a psycho, a witch, ghost, hallucination, or Kirster’s guilty conscious? The story is one of choices and the tragedy of the film is that had he not gotten back with his wife, she’d still be alive. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
If you like tortured protagonists, folklore, nocturnal spirits, common, yet obscure medical
conditions, or Sweden in general, you'll dig this film.
