As its title suggests, The Lodge is a single location psychological thriller offering a familiar story and a suspenseful atmosphere. This is one of those mildly entertaining thrillers you can watch anytime and have a good time. It features excellent cinematography taking full advantage of the snowy setting. Add to this some mystery and you got yourself quite a movie. The characters are well developed and their actions are quite reasonable. Now, I will admit that the first few scenes feel a bit cheap but just stick with this one as it gets much better.
The Lodge features a story with quite a few twists that feel natural and creative. I mean, this isn’t anything we haven’t seen before but it’s still engaging. And what’s more important, it’s not emotionally draining or depressive. I feel like there are fewer and fewer movies like this. For example, The Night House features a lot of the same elements but it’s a much darker and moodier movie. Don’t get me wrong, it’s also worth watching it’s just most days of the week I wanna watch something that’s not going to leave me depressed.
Meeting your new stepmother is awkward and nobody knows that better than Aiden and Mia. Richard thinks that the best way to break the tension is a nice family vacation. With his future wife Grace, of course. It’s almost Christmas and all of them head for the remote lodge next to a frozen lake. An idyllic location to spend the holiday will soon turn into something much more sinister.
Before you say, I’ll have to say, yes, we all know that Hereditary is a much, much better movie. I even like their little house better. However, it’s also a much weirder movie while The Lodge feels more commercial. I would compare it to Run starring Sarah Paulson and Kiera Allen. Speaking of the cast, they all did a pretty solid job. Too bad Thorin Oakenshield got so little screen time but I guess the story called for it. And while the kids did annoy me at first, they kind of grew on me as the story unfolded.
I would just like to add that they did not fuck up the ending. Something that happens too often with these types of psychological thrillers where you really don’t know what’s going on until the very end. Without jump-scares, blood, or graphic scenes, The Lodge focused its attention on the suspenseful atmosphere and twisting story. And it did so with great success. So, if you’re looking for something a bit different, do check it out.
Directors: Severin Fiala, Veronika Franz
Writers: Sergio Casci, Veronika Franz, Severin Fiala
Cast: Riley Keough, Jaeden Martell, Lia McHugh, Richard Armitage, Alicia Silverstone, Danny Keough
Fun Facts: Mary’s painting is a reproduction of L’Annunciata (Virgin Annunciate) by Italian Renaissance artist Antonello da Messina
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IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7347846/
