Was looking forward to seeing this movie for a while now. After 10 minutes I already realized how bad and forced the acting is. Not scary whatsoever Boring pointless dialogs that leads nowhere, over exaggerated reactions, . The storyline is as bad as the acting, you keep watching the same scenes and scenarios over and over and nothing happens, this movie is so extremely boring that my girlfriend falled asleep twice during this snooze fest of a movie. One of the worst if not the worst movie in 2024, the writer of this movie need to find a new career. Im always amazed that bad movies like this can be produced. If you really want to bore yourself to sleep then watch this movie.

Try not to decide if you wanna watch this movie solely based on the reviews you read. I was really looking forward to this movie but was a little put off by the couple of reviews that I had come across. Good rule of thumb? Avoid extreme opinions & average the remaining ones.

That said, this movie is rather suspenseful, I did not expect to dangle along the edge of my seat throughout the entire film yet that's exactly what happened. Now, this is not a slasher / teen-scream / jump-scare / outrageously scary movie. However, it does deliver quality work when it comes to acting, directing & especially cinematography. Above all though, I thoroughly enjoyed the storyline because there were no loose ends that kept me wondering at the end like with so many other movies that make you go "wait, that's it?!".

Trying not to use any spoilers & to keep it within the vicinity of the "about" introduction but I might be cutting it a bit close, so caution minor SPOILER ALERT below:

Local legend has it that a couple of hundred years ago whenever people were heavily mining the area & digging ores, many lost their lives. Superstition arose & so came about the cave wraith, this haunting banshee who lures people into the woods to kill them / take their soul etc. Doesn't really make a difference. Losing her 6-year old son, who had run off into the woods shortly before a blizzard, causes the mother to lose her mind when 2 search parties failed to recover his body.

The director is fully exploring her sense of dread & absolute despair. Bottom line is, how far would you go to find / save your child, having no closure or earthly clue what actually happened? It's this "not-knowing" which has the mother grasping for straws & eventually pushes her over the edge. Her personal dilemma is beautifully interwoven with the local legend & creates this haunting atmosphere which does not recede until the film is over.

It's a creeping kind of tension that stirs up just enough suspense to make you uncomfortable & gradually builds & builds & builds. In the end, the viewer will find themself in the same situation as the mother: pushed to the brink of madness. A couple of scenes made me REALLY jump despite knowing something "scary" was about to happen. Huge kudos for not ruining these scenes with overused imagery or cheap redundancy. Though quite graphic here & there, it was aesthetically gratifying to watch because the right amount of "gore" was very-well balanced thus brilliantly coddling the legend of the story.

Only reason it's not a 9 or 10 is simply because it's not the '23 or '24 Dune, or the '24 Mad Max Furiosa. Nonetheless, it's a well earned 8, I definitely recommend watching it.