Jacob's 31 Days of Halloween - Day 11: The Blackcoat's Daughter

Jacob's 31 Days of Halloween - Day 11: The Blackcoat's Daughter

The independent studio A24 is all the rage right now, and with good reason. From bizarre indie films like Swiss Army Man to classy Oscar winners like Moonlight, they've made one hell of a reputation in their 5 years of making movies. Their horror films in particular are fantastic, with The Witch and Hereditary being two of my all-time favorites of the past decade. So naturally when I heard about another horror movie of theirs that I hadn't seen yet, I had to check it out.

I almost feel guilty reviewing this film without seeing it twice, because I spent most of its runtime being confused. Characters talk low, the lighting is dark, a couple characters look very similar to each other, and it's plot is already purposefully mysterious - which are all ingredients for a big meal of me not knowing what's going on. I watched the film on my TV from my plugged-in laptop, which can often make the image look darker, so I'll call this my bad and not the movie's.

So with confusion aside, there's plenty I liked about this film. The acting is great, and I love that it's darkly atmospheric and deliberately paced. The cinematography is gorgeous, with several images sure to stick in my mind for quite a while. It hardly ever scares, instead it creeps (which isn't done nearly often enough these days), and it does a very good job of it.

I won't talk much more about it, as I really do need to see it again with more subtitles and screen brightness, but if you're looking for a new atmospheric horror movie, this is a good choice as long as you really pay attention.