THE ATONING (2017)

Studio:       Gravitas Ventures
Director:    Michael Williams
Writer:       Michael Williams
Producer:  Michael LaCour, Michael Williams, Joni Seitz
Stars:     Virginia Newcomb, Cannon Bosarge, Michael LaCour, Dorothy Weems, Sherri Eakin, Alex Zuko, Ashlyn Jade Lopez, Jessy Hughes

Review Score:

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Summary:

A troubled family seemingly trapped inside their own home comes to suspect that other entities might be trapped with them.

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Synopsis:     Show/Hide Spoilers

Over the course of several days, Vera, her husband Ray, and their young son Sam go through a repeating routine of mundane daily activities. From their cold behavior toward one another, Sam begins suspecting his troubled parents may be getting a divorce. Because of their son’s growing concerns, Vera tells Ray she is uncertain how much longer they can lie to Sam about what is really happening.

Various odd occurrences, such as a discarded painting that continually reappears as well as jigsaw puzzle pieces changing position, lead the family to believe there may be supernatural activity in the house. Vera, Ray, and Sam also experience fleeting visions of another man, woman, and little girl inside the home.

Ray begins reading a parapsychology book by Dr. Charon Lilith that discusses lost souls and atonement. Sam asks Vera who Julie is because she is the little girl in his visions. Vera discovers that Ray has photographs of the other family. Ray explains that he is only trying to figure out how to fix things.

Whispers in the house wake up everyone at night. Sam, Vera, and Ray end up walking in on a séance conducted in the living room by Charon and the other family. Sam realizes that he and his parents are haunting the other trio, not the other way around.

Vera confirms to Sam that they are ghosts. Sam asks how he died. Vera only tells Sam that he died in his sleep. She further explains that they are unable to leave the house until something happens, but admits they do not know what that is.

Strange visions and experiences continue for Vera, Ray, and Sam. A black-skinned demon in his closet begins appearing to Sam. Ray is haunted by silent phone calls from someone named Vanessa.

Sam interrupts a conversation between his parents to tell them there is someone in his room. A demon suddenly snatches Sam and traps the boy inside his bedroom by clutching him tightly.

A flashback shows that Vera was preparing to leave Ray and take Sam with her when they were alive. Coming home drunk, Ray angrily confronted Vera for telling people about his affair with 16-year-old Vanessa. In a rage, Ray strangled Vera and shot Sam while the boy slept. Ray then committed suicide.

A demon like the one holding Sam starts strangling Vera. Vera eventually gets free and rescues Sam.

Ray confronts a vision of Vanessa, who morphs into a demon and attacks. Once Ray is free, he tries reuniting with Vera and Sam, but is blocked by Sam’s locked bedroom door.

With everyone now remembering and recognizing the truth, Vera screams at Ray to leave. Ray apologizes for everything in an attempt to reconcile. Sam hands over a photo of him with Ray, implying he wants nothing to do with his father.

Two demons strangle and kill Ray with a sword before pulling him into a closet. Sam’s bedroom door suddenly unlocks. Vera and Sam go downstairs. The front door finally opens. Vera and Sam step outside into a bright light.

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Review:

“The Atoning” opens on a mother tucking in her son for the night.  The young boy asks when his father is coming home, to which his mother replies she doesn’t know.  But the woman reminds her son that they have a long drive ahead of them, so she wants him asleep by the time Uncle Danny gets there.

Mom showers, packs a bag, and clutches her necklace while glancing nervously at her phone.  A mystery man then enters the house.  The woman asks, “Danny?”  Following a few thumps heard when the camera cuts to a shot of a hallway, the man enters the little boy’s room to aim a gun at the sleeping tike’s head.

Mom suddenly wakes on the couch.  Whatever just happened was apparently a dream.  The woman collects a couple of blankets and moves to her son’s room as if to stand guard.  A few more odd thumps are heard.  The screen fades to black and in fades the title text to an ominous audio sting.

I can’t tell you what useful information the audience is expected to take away from that sequence, why it should feel remotely frightening, or who/what it even sets up.  Clearly, the film considers these roundabout three and a half minutes important enough to be the prologue.  This confusing scene does play into a bigger picture further in the film.  But as an appetizing enticement to get engaged with “The Atoning,” it couldn’t be a more dully unwelcoming introduction.

The movie goes on like this for quite a while.  Cryptic dialogue along the lines of, “do you think he knows?” or “don’t worry, I can change things” extends ambiguity well into the second act without directly cluing in viewers to what the story is really about.  Maybe “The Atoning” is a haunted house horror film.  Maybe it’s a supernatural mystery.  Maybe it’s a psychological portrait of a family in crisis.  It will take us a long time to sort things out, though.  First, we have to slog through repeated scenes of lifehacking a dripping faucet, re-hanging a pesky painting, putting together a jigsaw puzzle, and more household chores I wouldn’t want to do myself, never mind watching someone else do them for my supposed entertainment.

“The Atoning” essentially concerns Vera, her aloof husband Ray, and their young son Sam.  The troubled trio is seemingly unable to leave the confines of their own home, as though caught in either a literal or figurative purgatory that has them recycling daily routines without realizing why.  Fleeting glimpses of other figures in the house spur everyone to suspect a paranormal presence might be manipulating their family in some way.  It isn’t until Sam starts speaking with a shadowy shape in his closet that these haunting visions come full circle to reveal what is actually happening and why.

Unless you find creaking floors and slowly opening doors to be spooky, you’re in for one excruciatingly uneventful movie.  By being a predominantly three-person interplay restricted to one small house for its duration, “The Atoning” doesn’t have much to work with from the outset.  By occupying these mundane minutes with static shots of moping people milling about the same plain rooms shooting silent stares at one another, “The Atoning” dooms itself to becoming a tragically tiresome experience that can barely be classified as a “thriller.”

As a ‘friends and family’-produced microbudget movie, “The Atoning” undoubtedly has honest intentions.  Writer/producer/editor/cinematographer Michael Williams and lead actor/producer/executive producer Michael LaCour put together a simple DIY effort that at least doesn’t extend beyond its limited capabilities.  Frankly however, lethargic amateur acting, a belabored premise that spins its wheels getting going, and a demonic villain that is just a pantomiming performer in black greasepaint can’t come close to getting a rise out of anyone, particularly after they’ve been put to sleep by everything else in the film.

Review Score:  25

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