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I have dealt with my fair share of religious trauma over the years. I grew up in an evangelical church where anything fun was generally regarded as sinful. My worldview in my formative years was informed entirely by faith. I was conditioned to follow the teachings of the Bible without question, even when those teachings didn’t make sense. With a background like that, Matt McClung’s new horror film Inhabitants hits close to home. Religious trauma and passive-aggressive congregants with a penchant for judgment are all too familiar from my youth. Although I connected with the core message of the film, an overlong runtime, a heavy-handed metaphor, and inaccessible characters keep the flick from working as well as it might otherwise.
What is Inhabitants about?
This dramatic horror picture follows college-age couple Francis (Josh Rivera) and Olivia (Anna Jacoby-Heron) as they move into their first home together. Francis is a lapsed Christian while Olivia is a free spirit who embraces new-age faith practices. Shortly after the lovebirds settle into their new home, Francis begins experiencing night terrors and other disturbances. As the incidents escalate, he begins to suspect his former youth pastor is haunting him for living in sin with Olivia.
If it isn’t obvious from the plot crunch, the metaphor is a little on the nose. Francis’ late youth pastor comes back from the dead to haunt him much like anyone subjected to religious trauma feels haunted by bad memories, guilt, and shame. A less specific and more generic central antagonist may have kept the metaphor from reading as so heavy-handed. As it stands, the messaging comes across about as subtly as a hurricane.
Tonal inconsistencies plague the film.
Aside from an unsubtle metaphor, the film is also plagued by tonal inconsistencies. Francis’ mother, Lillian (Ana Auther), is scripted as comically domineering. She comes across like she’s carved from the overbearing mother-in-law trope popular in romantic comedies. However, every other character in the film plays it stone-cold seriously. Accordingly, Olivia and Francis feel very much like they are in a different movie than Lillian. There’s no real sense of cohesion.
Also overbearing are the frequent ham-fisted attempts at foreshadowing. The name on the radiator in Francis and Olivia’s new home is one letter off from spelling ‘hell.’ Their house number adds up to 13. A flashback sequence gives us an ominous look at a blood moon. There’s no shortage of signs suggesting terrible things are on the horizon for the couple. However, the nasty stuff begins happening so quickly that there isn’t a need for foreshadowing. Moreover, a single omen goes a long way. One of the various omens would have been a great plenty. Throwing all of them in feels a lot like overkill.
Though wicked things begin early and persist often, the greater narrative is still pretty slow. There are a few good jump scares that startled me. However, McClung never successfully sustains tension in the long term. The things that go bump in the night never feel like a credible threat, in large part, because Olivia and Francis never seem all that concerned by them. They seem almost indifferent. If they aren’t noticeably afraid, why should the audience be?
All is not lost, though.
Moving on to what works well, Kevin Nealon features in a memorable cameo. He is predictably amusing. Yet, he is totally underutilized. His character is there to establish that spirits can possess an object. And that’s about it. I wish Nealon had a meatier role. He’s one of the best parts of the film.
I also connected with the messaging. Only when Francis truly confronts his trauma and stops running from it can he be free. That is very true. However, the delivery of the message and narrative execution simply aren’t as effective as they could have been with a stronger screenplay, more immersive performances, and a subtler approach to the trauma metaphor.
On the whole, Inhabitants is too heavy-handed, features performances that feel out of place, and runs 25 minutes too long. There is a good movie somewhere in there. I am interested to see what McClung does next. He has the basics down. Perhaps his next feature will build upon the momentum he has established thus far.
If you’re curious to check Inhabitants out, you can find the film on VOD from Gravitas Ventures now.
There is a good movie somewhere in there.
Summary
‘Inhabitants’ has some of the hallmarks of a good film, yet it never quite works as a cohesive whole.
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