Soulmate

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source: Soulmate

Atmospheric, creepy , great acting . I just don't understand the negative comments here , were these people expecting a Saw genre ?

My spoiler free review for The Bloody Asylum that can be found at WordPress, Mr Geeky blog: Sadly a film which has very undeservedly gone under the radar. Soulmate is the award winning 2013 British feature film debut of Belgium film-maker Axelle Carolyn, more well known to many as the former wife and film-making partner of Neil Marshall, director of Dog Soldiers and The Descent. She also played a role in his 2010 film Centurion. Her most recent film, which she created and produced, is the highly acclaimed 2015 anthology film Tales of Halloween. She also contributed to it as the writer and director of the "Grim Grinning Ghost" segment starring Alex Essoe, star of the superb Starry Eyes from 2014. Axelle Carolyn also most recently co-wrote an episode of Netflix Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Chapter Nine: The Returned Man. She conceived, wrote, and directed the modern set gothic horror Soulmate, which was produced by Neil Marshall. The film is in part inspired by the stories of M.R. James and the Henry James novella Turn of the Screw, most famously adapted into the 1961 film The Innocents and later the inspiration for the 2001 film The Others starring Nicole Kidman. However, Soulmate brings something slightly different to its inspirations. It is at its core a beautifully melancholic meditation on loss and grief with a superb lead performance by Anna Walton. She is complimented by a brilliant supporting cast of Tom Wisdom, Tanya Myers and the hugely underrated Nick Brimble, star of Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, The Sweeney tv series and films, and The Creature in Roger Corman's Frankenstein Unbound. The film forgoes jump scares in favor of atmosphere and a slow build, making it feel different to many modern horror films. Along the way there are some unexpected twists and turns with a nuanced ambiguity even as the credits roll. The atmosphere of the film is accentuated by the breathtakingly beautiful bleak cinematography and production design coupled with the perfect use of music and sound. Sadly for the British release Axelle Carolyn was forced by the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) to make cuts to the suicide sequence because they felt even as an 18 certificate (hard R rating) there was too much focus on the technique shown and could be imitated. She, rightly so, felt that those cuts romanticized suicide and instead cut out the entire scene from the British version of the film, amounting to two minutes and thirty three seconds. To have her vision compromised because a key scene was cut must have hurt because it feels that this negates the impact of the entire film. Maybe this was the reason one of the best British films of recent years went under the radar and is now an almost forgotten film. The version I saw and reviewed is the uncut version that to this day is unjustly banned in the UK. Jokingly Axelle Carolyn calls it a Video Nastie, which it definitely is not. For those who are looking for a subtle thoughtful horror film with depth and heart Soulmate is highly recommended. Hopefully in the future we will see more from the extremely talented Axelle Carolyn.

Audrey (Anna Walton) shows up at a remote Wales cottage to get away from life. She is unsociable and melancholy. She wears a wedding ring and her wrists are bandaged. She has difficulty playing her violin and is on medications. If you haven't figured out her story in the first five minutes, you will get a full explanation later on. Of course she meets a ghost. Not as friendly as Caspar, but more like the Ghost and Mrs. Muir without the comedy. The film is drama about coping with life and moving on. The ghost aspect is secondary. This is a ghost story for people who like Lifetime films and don't like to be scared. The film is slow and not for everyone. Parental Guide: No sex or nudity.

The first thing that bites you about 'Soulmate' is the extraordinary scenery. Filmed in Wales, entirely on location I think, it looks breathtaking. Director Axelle Carolyn absolutely makes the most of it. Audrey, played by the always wonderful Anna Walton, stays at a remote house in the middle of nowhere to piece together her broken spirit following the death of her husband and subsequent suicide attempt. Not only does the house appear to be frequented by a mysterious other, but she has to fend off sticky-beak neighbour Theresa (Tanya Myers) whilst confiding in her husband Dr Zellaby (Roger Corman's former Frankenstein Monster Nick Brimble). This, alongside Douglas (Tom Wisdom) pretty much is the cast, all fine performers. Cautiously for a work of horror fiction, the BBFC requested compulsory cuts to the pre-credits suicide sequence, as they felt that the risk of imitation was too high to be acceptable. Luckily they didn't feel that anyone would copy the subsequent traumatic incidents involving Audrey, or we wouldn't have this splendid film at all - but at least the public would have been spared any inclination to go out and haunt someone. Ultimately, the story proves to be slight, and the ending might have been a little more conclusive. After investing in these characters for so long, it seems a shame most of their journeys were left so open-ended. However, it is very difficult not to enjoy this richly layered, deeply atmospheric production. I wouldn't suggest it is necessarily a 'gentle' horror, but it what it (deliberately) lacks in spectacle and gore, it makes up for in its immersive mood. My score is 7 out of 10.

3 February 2015. There is little in the way of shock horror in this supernatural romance, psychological thriller. This movie is unusual in that it is simple in its conception using mostly natural light and the authentic richness of human, mortal psychological depth to capture the audience in its web. This is a slow paced movie that reeks of mental thoughts and feelings and paranoid and romantic emotions. In a way, this movie is the occult version of Diane Lane's story and performance in Under the Tuscan Sun (2003) At the same time, Soulmates has the finely honed thematic and atmospheric setting, but much lighter with back and forth movement than the more traditionally but deliciously creepy horror movie Dark Water (2005). In a way, Soulmate rivals the much more epic and comprehensive supernatural creepiness as Black Death (2010) during the European plague but instead using a much more relational, intimate setting within mostly the confines of a single house, that is both light and dark, day and night that offers up both bitter memories and sweet possibilities. In other ways, Soulmates offers the richness and psychological haunting of Silent Hill (2006) but with much more delicate, subtle brush strokes, without the need for overly dramatic special effects. What makes Soulmate special is its screen time devoted to the everyday life of characters who literally sometimes develop within the movie, like that of Natalie Portman's brilliant evolving performance and sustained psychological thriller in Black Swan (2010) as a ballerina. Soulmate also has a more cerebral, yet emotional pungent connection to be made than even than Jennifer Lopez's character in The Cell (2000) that brought horror gore to the screen along with a resonate emotional twang. Devil (2010) mostly shot within the confines of an elevator and its evolutionary horror has echoes that might be precursors of Soulmate released three years late, though its much more overt use of violence is, well, reasonable to be expected to be associated with the subject matter and movie title. However, incredibly as it might sound, there are hints of the atmospheric setting and rich backdrop and almost sedate leisurely pace that can be found in Soulmate as depicted in the Italian setting of the drama period piece Enchanted April (1991) and as immersively depicted rich and subtle as in mesmerizing ghost thriller The Awakening (2011) only released two years before Soulmate. Nevertheless Soulmate doesn't quite have the intense gripping sustained bite of John Cusack's performance and script that uses special effects in a seamlessly scary horror film 1408 (2007) set almost exclusively in a single hotel room. Neither does Soulmate reach the evolving psychological drama that sweeps over the audience in Another Earth (2011). Nevertheless as far as occult psychological thrillers, Soulmate is a fabulous mature contribution to the genre.

It's an atmospheric ghost tale following a grieving woman played by the talented, Anna Walton as she tries to get away from the grief she carries with her by staying in an old cottage in Wales. As she tries to find herself again, she finds that she's not alone in the cottage. Tom Wisdom is wonderful as the hauntingly lonely Douglas Talbot - running the full emotional gambit of endearing and sorrowful to just plain frightening. It's beautifully shot with slow moving camera and lovely scenery. Wonderfully written and brilliantly directed by Axelle Carolyn who picked a lovely cast of talented actors. Definitely worth watching!

This is the sort of thing that used to be the staple Christmas Fayre on the TV . You can imagine this being shown as a Family Ghost story to scare the young children and to take their mind off Santa Claus . Its a low budget moody,atmospheric tale that I will guess will flop badly at the box office (assuming it even makes it that far) . However , its in the main a very enjoyable simple drama that doesn't require you to think too much . Anna Walton is excellent in the lead (though she needs to work at bit at miming how to play a violin) . There are a couple of loud bangs to make you jump...a little bit of tomato sauce...a bit of ghostly make up....but other than that there aren't too many really scary moments to have you gripping the seat .But to be fair it doesn't pretend to be that sort of film . Its apparently got a certificate of 15...heaven knows why...kids will love it !