Right now in many ways, Mike Flanagan is the name in television horror. He's also responsible for several films including the sequel to The Shining, Doctor Sleep. It's his Netflix mini-series Haunting of Hill House, Haunting of Bly Manor, and the true monster of them all Midnight Mass, that are the foundations of a truly concrete career. Midnight Mass, by the way? Probably the best television work I've seen since Salems Lot. It possesses incredible writing and performing all the way across, and a real reason to kick Netflix in the balls for not making their product available in the physical medium. Flanagan's made this complaint himself, actually.
Absentia is his first film, a Phase 4 product financed through Kickstarter. You can tell it's an early work as it doesn't have the sure hand of Flanagan's current works, and looks very raw at times. Still, he draws excellent performances from a primarily novice cast, and it has quite a few creepy moments and shocks within its well written framework.
The carpeting of the story is one sister coming to visit another, the latter of which is now pregnant, and 7 years into living with a missing husband. A corner is being turned as she is dealing with the paperwork of claiming him legally dead and entering into a relationship with someone else, when truly Mike Flanagan moments begin to take place. A good slow burn begins that comes to a conclusion that some would not be satisfied with, but I find acceptable, because it's a reflection of life's realities and the stupidity of bureaucracy.
In toto, it hurts but it works.
Frani asked as it ended, "Is this really a horror movie?" and I didn't have an immediate answer. I guess probably not, but life is horrific, and this film reflects that, whether or not the core of the story is realistic.
I'd watch something else for Halloween, but Absentia is truly an amazing debut work from one of the best in the business.
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