The Lodge tells the psychologically chilling tale of a woman (Riley Keough) and her new stepchildren isolated in the family’s remote winter cabin, locked away to dredge up the mysteries of her dark past and the losses that seem to haunt them all.
Before the Terror-Fi Film Festival begins its nationwide tour, I managed to make it to an advanced screening of Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala's latest directorial release; the psychological thriller, The Lodge. The piece manages to pull off many aspects that create effective horror-thrillers, but ultimately, lets the audience down in enough other aspects to leave the viewer feeling conflicted.
The first two acts of the film are prime examples of a slow burn, but it is effectively done. We move from houses with vibrant, vivid colours, to the lodge, which manages to feel restrictive and claustrophobic despite a much larger floor plan. Darkness is used as a prop, filling up much of the empty space in the set designs, pushing our main characters in and out from between thin shafts of natural light, and the all-encompassing blackness that obscures much of the scenes.
This use of black is brilliantly framed in a way that continually generates increasing amounts of tension and suspense as the film progresses. While the colour palette creates a dirty, unkempt atmosphere (greatly accentuated by the pristine whiteness of the snowy environments that surround the lodge), the darkened shots are not lightened through overuse of colour grading, adding a sense of authenticity to the film.
Chilling (both physically and metaphorically), The Lodge uses an unhurried, measured pace, alongside some nice cinematography (awkward camera angles, slow pans,frequently changing POVs, and tight close-ups) to try and visually probe into the effects of isolation and psychological trauma while using ambiguity to blur the lines between what could be the reality and what could be a psychotic break. Moments of action are sparse and few between, further emphasising the significance of the mental element of the story.
This is where things start to take a turn, with certain story elements that's are explained far too early in the film and are never developed further. The audience is robbed of the satisfaction of reveal, and end up being submitted to a very slow and repetitive second act. There are some quite creative attempts made to divert the story, to add misdirection and red herrings, keeping the audience questioning what is going on, but it fails to follow through. The screenplay fights tooth and nail to escape the tropes and formula, but step straight back into it voluntarily, much to this reviewer's chagrin.
The pacing comes off feeling inconsistent, with the third act managing to rush through its climax, and again reduce the impact and scale of satisfaction that the audience can achieve. There are a number of elements of the premise that are genuinely intriguing, but The Lodge refuses to develop those storylines, leaving all of those nagging questions unanswered.
When it comes to the location and weather patterns, there is a definite resemblance to The Shining, and when you see Alicia Silverstone in the opening scenes with specific props, one cannot help but want to compare it with Hereditary.
Overall, The Lodge does a great job creating an isolating and warped atmosphere, but disappointing choices in the direction of the screenplay will likely leave the audience feeling conflicted and nonplussed.