Movie Review: The Atoning (2017)
The Atoning is an award-winning slow burn horror/suspense thriller written and directed by Michael Williams. The film is about a family living together in a house, and there is a lot of tension within their family. While living there, strange things start to happen around them, and they realize that the house they live in is haunted. The main characters are Ray (Michael LaCour), his wife Vera (Virginia Newcomb), and their son Sam (Cannon Bosarge) and they struggle to keep their family together while also dealing with the strange and terrifying events that are happening around them along with their own personal demons.
One of the first things to note is the cinematography. Michael Williams was in charge of this along with writing and directing this film and did an excellent job. The use of lighting really shines, as the film is shot entirely in the interior of a house, and it helps to emphasize the mood of each scene. There were a lot of camera shots that stood out as well, which is important in films like this that are very dialogue-driven to keep each scene interesting. Great job all around in the cinematography department. The sound needed to be adjusted a bit sometimes depending on what was happening, but aside from that, the production part of this film was fantastic.
The Atoning reminded me a lot of The Babadook or The Witch in some ways. The atmosphere was very solemn, and the lighting and color scheme was drab. This lends itself to the overall feel of the film, though, and is fitting for the mood and context of the story as a whole and helps add to the immersion. There are some really tense moments as well when things start to escalate in the house, and the family has some demons to face. Once those demons reveal themselves, things really start to get interesting in the house.
The acting in this film was exceptional as well. The cast that was chosen has all had a lot of previous experience, and it is a huge part of what makes this film special. The characters were all well-written and portrayed. And the story itself is really good. While it does take a while for the story to unfold, it goes in an interesting direction that was completely unexpected and was a nice surprise. Very good job by all involved here in bringing each of these characters and story to life.
Overall, The Atoning is a great film. It’s hard to explain without giving too much away, but the story is one that really makes you feel like you are in the house with this family and the tension builds up at a nice pace. The entire team did a fantastic job of painting a picture, placing it on the wall, and then replacing that picture with a completely different one while you are still looking at it without you realizing it. We would definitely recommend this film to any horror fan who is into horror/suspense.
The Atoning will be available on September 5th on DVD/Bluray, VOD (Cable & Dish), and your local Redbox, so make sure to check it out! You can find out more by following them here on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theatoning And here on Twitter: https://twitter.com/theatoningmovie You can Pre-order The Atoning today on iTunes here: http://bit.ly/1SM-TheAtoningiTunes
