Jan 23

Jan 23 Sundance Film Festival movie review: 'Resurrection'

*Image courtesy of Sundance Film Festival.*

A deeply buried secret pushes a successful business woman to her psychological limits in the dramatic thriller 'Resurrection' (screening at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival).

In short: Margaret (Rebecca Hall) leads an orderly life as a single mother with a successful career. That is, until David (Tim Roth) returns, carrying with him the horrors of Margaret's past.

The first 20 minutes of 'Resurrection' seem innocuous enough as the script lays out Margaret's daily life. Nothing seems out of the ordinary. At worst, she's engaged in an illicit affair and a bit controlling as a mother. She's no saint, but there's nothing extraordinary about her routine and life. But just the mere sight of a man - someone she clearly recognizes - completely unravels her well-ordered exterior. And the hook of 'Resurrection' is figuring out what could so totally rattle Margaret to her core.

The interesting choice writer-director Andrew Semans makes with 'Resurrection' is ramping up the psychological terror pretty quickly. The problem with this approach is nearly 40 minutes passes before Margaret finally explains the secrets and pains of her youth, delivered in one long exposition dump. Drawing out the history behind Margaret and David's past doesn't necessarily add to the intrigue - it's just confusing. Margaret fundamentally, to her core, fears David ... for some reason. And he has a hold on her ... for some reason. She has a visceral reaction to just seeing him ... for some reason. The movie's decision to keep the audience in the dark is just frustrating.

Despite some misguided narrative choices, the film is all the better for casting the always impeccable Rebecca Hall. As Margaret spirals, Hall's performance becomes the strength of 'Resurrection.' Hall walks the line between tormented woman harboring a terrible secret that has haunted her for decades.

This is a spoiler-free review - just know the film's climax takes a huge swing ... and comes up with nothing. The threat that David holds over Margaret is an obtuse metaphor for deeply repressed guilt. The movie that unfolds on screen is utterly preposterous to the point of positing that Margaret could be a completely delusional, unreliable narrator. Nope. This movie is exactly what it says it is - which actually makes it far less intriguing. The plot twists are odd to nonsensical and David's claim is patently bonkers. But 'Resurrection' sticks to its guns to the bitter end - with the end result being a surreal story riddled with false starts and failed plot points that go nowhere, that just comes off as a dopey metaphor.

Final verdict: Rebecca Hall's performance is one of the strongest of any Sundance 2022 film - unfortunately, nothing else about this misfire works or entertains.