A woman's carefully constructed life gets up-ended when an unwelcome shadow from her past returns, forcing her to confront the monster she's evaded for two decades.
Director: Andrew Semans
Cast: Rebecca Hall, Grace Kaufman, Michael Esper, Tim Roth
Release Date: July 29, 2022
Genre: Crime, Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Rated R for some violent content, sexual content, and for language
Runtime: 1h 43m
Resurrection is a lean, psychological potboiler that works mainly because of Rebecca Hall’s thoroughly committed performance. Andrew Semans’ film is grounded for the most part but from the opening shot you get the sense that something’s off. There are plenty of moments that feel familiar throughout as we follow Hall’s character steady decent into madness. It’s a disorienting sensation even if she starts going off the rails quickly much like Jack Nicholson in The Shining. Additionally, it’s obvious early on that Hall’s character isn’t the most reliable point of view as the film highlights a few blackouts and dissociative moments which will leave you wondering how much of what you are seeing is real or imagined. There are few actresses around that can play internalized trauma like Rebecca Hall, see Christine or The Night House. Hall is fully committed from the start, never letting up, making the audience feel every tinge of pain and intensity. She carries the film by providing a multifaceted performance that is distinctively her own. Tim Roth delivers a measured, subtly menacing turn that’s as unnerving as it’s understated. His scenes with Hall pop off the screen especially as the film turns into its final act where it’s likely to lose or confuse a portion of the audience. Whether the ending works or not is entirely up to everyone’s personal taste, but Resurrection is the kind of film that will linger in your memory.
B+
