The Righteous (2021)
Genre: Drama / Horror
Duration: 97 minuten
Country:
Canada
Directed by: Mark O'Brien
Stars: Henry Czerny, Mark O'Brien and Mimi Kuzyk
IMDb score:
6,0 (975)
Releasedate: 15 August 2021
The Righteous plot
Former priest Frederic left the church a long time ago to start a family. That dream shattered after the death of their child. When the couple receives a visit from a certain Aaron, their lives are turned upside down. Frederic cannot help but feel that the wrath of a vengeful god is at hand.
Actors and actresses
Aaron Smith
Frederic Mason
Ethel Mason
Mary Hutton
Doris
Graham
VIP church lady / Gemstones church worker (uncredited)
Reviews & comments
Shadowed
-
- 11421 messages
- 6719 votes
Mediocre.
The Righteous is a case that would like to join the list of A24 films. It is slow, black and white and has an overdose of deeper dialogues with which O'Brien clearly wants to show that he has done his research when it comes down to faith and religion. Does that also make it a good film? Not really.
Because even though O'Brien manages to direct a number of beautiful images, he still lacks the steam on the more crucial elements within a horror film. This way, a strong form of atmosphere never really emerges. The film relies on music and ominous playing with lighting, but then also regularly forgets how to use it properly, making many scenes seem more silly than disturbing.
Furthermore, not enough spice is extracted from the escalating situation between Czerny and O'Brien. Individually, they are reasonable characters. Especially due to the large amount of focus, they are not completely colorless, but when they are together there is still not enough spark between the two. Czerny is also a bit too silly for this role. I'd rather cast him in more comedic roles.
The deeper talk will probably have been well researched, but once the end comes, I thought it seemed especially silly. In the end, I mainly miss a big boost of creativity from the director's chair, because it mainly wants to come across as intellectual, but as a horror film it is not very successful. Even as its own thing, it probably won't really stand out due to the lack of memorable moments. Too bad, a missed opportunity, because visually there are certainly some reasonable style moments.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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