Oct 11

Oct 11 NIGHTSTREAM film review: 'An Unquiet Grave'

The attempted rumination of loss and grief 'An Unquiet Grave' (screening during NIGHTSTREAM starting Oct. 11) is so frustratingly simple that it's utterly unequipped to explore its themes or even be a serviceable horror film.

In short: A year after the death of his wife, widower Jamie (Jacob A. Ware) enlists his wife's twin sister Ava (Christine Nyland) to help him bring Julia back.

'Unquiet' hinges on the assumption that audience will buy into very premise ... and yet, the film does almost nothing to grab the audience's attention. If 'Unquiet' is supposed to be rooted in grief, the story only works if Jamie and/or Ava are in such a bleak, dire depth of despair that they would turn to some bizarre ritual. Yet, the script is just like "yep, the wife is dead and these two are ... there."

The film suffers from an utter lack of characterization. To buy into the premise, the film had to invest more time and effort fleshing out where Ava and Jamie were emotionally and what Julia meant to them. The fact that Ava and Jamie are underdeveloped becomes a real problem after a critical plot twist. Shallow characters only have shallow motivations - and a character-driven story is only as strong as the character's motivations. At one point in the script, a character alludes to how much Jamie has changed - but this one lazy bit of dialogue is the beginning and ending of that character exploration. And any change in Jamie's character is arguably the only thing that truly matters to the story. But no - rather than revel in his experiences and explore his motivations ... some spooky stuff happens. There's some jump scares. It's unfulfilling.

Any film that's barely 75 minutes long shouldn't feel weighed down with tedious scenes that move at a glacial pace. In the first 20 minutes, the film follows Jamie and Ava ... as they meet ... and get into a car ... and stop for gas. None of this builds any mood and none of this is in service to illustrating just how desperate and hopelessly bereaved Jamie and Ava are. There's some minor character details revealed - but surface character minutia is not exactly the stuff of compelling storytelling.

To be perfectly frank, there's a gap between the performances of Ware and Nyland. The film demands so much more of Nyland, whose character is taken along for the ride. And to her credit, Nyland's subtle performance is the backbone of 'Unquiet' and she delivers. Ware is simply playing a guy out of his element surrounded by some spooky stuff. It's not a lot to work with - but Jamie, as a character, is the catalyst driving the film forward ... and he's a sadly thin character.

Final verdict: 'Unquiet' is a meager 75 minutes long ... and it's about twice as long as it needs to be. This is not a hallmark of riveting filmmaking.