The Hollow Child

Highly recommended 90/100

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It had one of my personal favorite aesthetics, and psycho aesthetics, I enjoyed the rate it was cooked, and the playfulness of heart chakras, felt very embodied I did not feel any overly discomfort between the 2 girls, they didn't breakout of character at the risk of breaking the whole plot, understanding film through chakras (which is the ultimate spoiler alert) will help the audience truly understand what is going on plot wise.

The movie has great potential until about midway through when you're left completely underwhelmed. The acting was fantastic but the movie itself left a lot to be desired.

Samantha (Jessica McCloud) is a troubled teen who is trying to fit in with her new foster family. Reluctant to be a responsible big sister, their young daughter - Olivia (Hannah Chemary)- disappears after Samantha leaves her to walk home alone. Their parents are distraught and therefore are obviously relieved when Olivia shows up again. Overlooking the fact she starts to demonstrate some disturbing behaviour. This leads to a simply beautiful Pans Labyrinth style story of love and sacrifice as Samantha searches for the truth. Apart from the gorgeous cinematography and great direction - the entire cast deliver superb performances. The characters and their relationships are multi-dimensional, relatable and entirely believable which immerse you into this deeply moving horror. Credit must be given to child-actress Hannah who delivered a complex performance without falling into the trap of of the 'creepy child' trope. The Hollow Child is sadly understated despite receiving a awards on its release, probably due to poor reviews which in my opinion are not warranted. Each to their own, but I love folklore -inspired horror and this is a real gem.

Troubled foster teen Samantha (a fine and appealing portrayal by Jessica McLeod) has difficulty adjusting to her new family. Further complications ensue after her stepsister Olivia (an excellent performance by Hannah Cheramy) mysteriously disappears in the nearby woods, only to return a few days later. However, Samantha immediately senses that something is now seriously off about Olivia. Director Jeremy Lutter relates the absorbing story at a steady pace, ably crafts an eerie and unsettling atmosphere, and makes nicely evocative use of the mist-shrouded forest main location. Moreover, this movie earns extra points for putting a welcome and refreshing emphasis on mood and people over gore and cheap scares, with the underlying pathos pertaining to the vulnerable character of Samantha providing a surprisingly substantial amount of depth and poignancy. The sound acting by the capable cast keeps things humming: John Emmet Tracy as strict stepdad Garrett, Jana Mitsoula as sincere and well-meaning stepmom Liz, Genevieve Buechner as loyal gal pal Emily, Connor Stanhope as the smitten Logan, and Johannah Newmarch as local crazy lady Alison. A neat little fright film.

Wasnt as bad as I expected, but also wasnt as scary as I'd hope for. The young actresses did a great job a long with the rest of the characters. I dont wanna give anything away, but I dont I'm not sure if the thing(s) is dead. Alison...... Where r u lmao PS that teacher had one heck of a hair do lol.

The haters will hate. As a film lover and director myself, the script was good, directing was good, story was executed well. It was suspenseful and the editor gets props from me.

"Run before it turns everyone against you." The reason why I try to avoid seeing trailers is twofold. Or they are so revealing that you actually saw the film in advance. Either the trailer is inviting and arouses your curiosity, but afterward, you come to the conclusion they better limited themselves to making this trailer alone. Better yet. Perhaps they could have made an extended version of it because the film really doesn't have more to offer. "The hollow child" belongs to this last category. The initial idea had potential. The end result was disappointing again. Or maybe the subject was a little too limited to make a full film of it. I think it's a bit exaggerated to call "The hollow child" a horror. It was never really scary. And the revelation of what's hiding in the dark, murky forest was so momentary and so late, that it seemed completely irrelevant. To be honest, I thought the main theme was the daily struggle of Samantha (Jessica McLeod) against the lack of understanding and the desperation about where she could feel at home. It felt as if the disappearing and reappearing of Olivia (Hanna Cheramy), daughter of the foster family where Samantha stays, was just a secondary subject. Although her personality changed. I got more shivers from what Samantha was doing to herself with scissors than from Olivia's behavior. But no worries. There are also some positive aspects. The beginning certainly isn't bad and shows some atmospheric images of the notorious forest where the youngsters walk through after school. Apparently, it's also an enchanted forest, because after 30 years it still looks the same. Then there's the acting part. First of all, Hanna Cheramy delivers an admirable performance. For children of that age, a leading role is certainly not self-evident. But it's Jessica McLeod who deserves appreciation. Her acting never felt forced. The way she evolves from a rebellious teenager to a responsible daughter who sincerely regrets her mistake looked credible. On the other hand, there's also the irritating acting of John Emmet Tracy, the unsympathetic stepfather and Johannah Newmarch (A ravishing beauty by the way). The latter is portrayed as the crazy woman who burned down her parental home in the past because she claimed her returned sister was an imposter. To be honest, she didn't look that crazy. "The hollow child" has its good and bad sides. But what it fails to do, is to create a creepy or frightening atmosphere. It's far from horror and will certainly not stand out among all other releases. Don't be misled by the movie poster. This radiates more horror than the film itself. You can call "The hollow child" a drama with some horror elements. And unfortunately, the end was too predictable. So if you have too much free time and you don't know how to fill it, you could give this average horror a chance. However, I'm sure that afterward, you'll use a statement that sounds like: "Maybe I should have spent my spare time doing ....".

Following her reappearance after an accident, a troubled teen finds that her foster stepsister has become a violent, secret sociopath that no one else believes stories, and when the time comes for her to finally get the proof puts her and the rest of the family in danger of the vicious being. For the most part, this one was a lot of fun. One of the more enjoyable aspects of the film is the rather engrossing and chilling concept of the young children being specifically targeted. Starting with the opening showing the sister being targeted in the gloomy section of the forest and being dragged away, while the opening consisting of the race to find her after the disappearance of her sister which causes plenty of chaos around the household is wholly believable due to the early instances being around them. When she's returned, it starts off a rather fun thread of the girl being just off enough that something is obviously wrong with her but is completely overlooked because of the situation so that her antics of ripping off doll eyes, the night-time visits to the forest outside their house that nobody ever sees or the killing of others that nobody ever finds or believes can be blamed on the girl. As the longer she interacts with the imposter and becomes far more away of what's going on, there's a more distinct and pronounced sense of her evil tendencies as the various attacks and outspoken threats that are quite well realized and generate some thrilling elements with the violent outbursts against the friends as she races to unravel the truth about the mysterious beings around her. This finale gives the film a lot of nice bloodshed in the various kills and some creepy imagery to finish it off, really helping to hold this one up over it's few minor problems. The main issue here is the fact that there's just nothing really at stake here for so much of the film that it feels like a drama more than anything else with the way her family treats her instead of looking into what she's talking about. The fact that she tends to shift from going to her long-time girlfriend or the guy who has a crush on her for help makes it seem like it's flipping between different storylines and neither of them are all that concerned with playing up the horror of the situation as they focus more on the disbelieving sister storyline than anything else. As well, the fact that this one never really goes into detail about what's going on with the creature at the center of the story, as we get only one mention of what they are or how they keep everybody alive for as long as they do, much less the little girl who was able to wander through the woods leading them into the discovery of what's going on. These here are what somewhat hold it back overall. Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language and themes of children-in-jeopardy.