Thursday, December 10, 2020

Hold a Vigil Until The Vigil


A little bit after I wrote my pan review of The Midnight Sun last night I was depressed for a moment, trying to remember the last movie I got to unqualifiedly rave about -- it technically was just last week with Ammonite but I first saw Ammonite months ago, so that's no recent eureka. I guess my happiest surprise this fall was Dea Kulumbegashvili's film Beginning at NYFF (reviewed here) but I have no idea when that will get a US release. Anyway that sadness evaporated this morning upon word of a very very good movie that's now coming out in February -- the horror film The Vigil, from first-time director Keith Thomas, is now set to hit on February 26th, and it's a real atmospheric and creepy one y'all. 

"Steeped in ancient Jewish lore and demonology, The Vigil is supernatural horror film set over the course of a single evening in Brooklyn's Hasidic Borough Park neighborhood. Low on funds and having recently left his insular religious community, Yakov (Dave Davis) reluctantly accepts an offer from his former rabbi and confidante (Menashe Lustig) to take on the responsibility of an overnight "shomer," fulfilling the Jewish practice of watching over the body of a deceased community member. Shortly after arriving at the recently departed's dilapidated house to sit the vigil, Yakov begins to realize that something is very, very wrong."

I only recently saw this and I have been waiting to review it until I knew it was closer to its release date, so... well I guess I'll wait to review it properly come February. But the hype on this one from when it screened at Toronto way back in September of 2019 (!!!) is not off-base in the slightest. It freaked me the fuck out! Even though I must recommend you stay away from trailers, which always kill the best moments in horror films, here's the first teaser:

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