Title: The Lodge
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Severin Fiala, Veronika Franz
Starring: Riley Keough, Richard Armitage, Alicia Silverstone
Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins

What It Is: After tragedy strikes Richard (Armitage) and his two children Aidan (Jaeden Martell) and Mia (Lia McHugh) he looks to introduce his new girlfriend (and future wife) Grace (Keough) to his children. In order to do this, he thinks the best thing to do is have them all over at his cabin for the Christmas holiday. When somethings turn and go wrong Grace’s past begins to rear its ugly head as mania begins to ensue.

What We Think: This film has all the ooky, all the spooky and it simply put nails it! I walked out of this film completely satisfied with what I’d seen. Riley Keough is stellar and the two child leads are so annoying that everything that occurs with them feels almost cathartic. It’s a taut piece of suspense that brings the scares in all the right places. Martell and McHugh play up the wickedness of the children they are. This really helps build Keough’s character as a sympathetic one. Armitage is sort of wasted but his character is nothing but an accessory anyway. There’s one moment early in this film that set it up that you have no idea what you’re about to witness. It works so well.

Our Grade: A-, This is one that surprised me. I’d heard good things coming out of Sundance but didn’t believe the hype. Well I buy it now…because I’ve seen it! This is scheduled to come out February of 2020 nearly a year after it played at Sundance. Well now!…contrary to what RottenTomatoes says our review is early on this one! Check it out when it does come out! Neon is putting this one out and they’re on quite a bit of a roll.