‘I think it wants a story with an ending…’
Horror as a concept is a weird thing. People actively seek out films that are going to make them feel distressed and uncomfortable. Why do we do this? Is it the rush of adrenaline? The need to feel something? Or perhaps it is satisfying in some way to see your innermost deranged daydreams played out in front of you in an environment where nobody will actually get hurt. It is an interesting argument.
So few horror films actually achieve what they are supposed to be for. I spend a lot of time during most horror movies either bored or rolling my eyes at the corniness of it all. Occasionally though, a film comes along that really gets you. One of those movies that you just can’t shake. It comes screaming back to you at 3am like a shrieking face in the dark, grimacing or screaming… it’s impossible to tell. Sinister, Hereditary, The Sixth Sense. These are all films that still cause me to inwardly shudder. Well, you can now add Resolution to the list.
Chris (Vinny Curran) is a junkie in a tailspin who is living in an isolated squat in the boonies of San Diego. When Michael (Peter Cilella) shows up to help him get clean things quickly take a downward turn.
I’ve been intentionally vague in the plot outline there because I firmly believe that the less you know going into Resolution the better. This is a movie that can’t be explained with words. It is a sucker punch of a movie. A freewheeling headfuck of a movie that slowly sucks you in and somehow exudes menace in every scene. There wasn’t a moment during Resolution where I didn’t feel uncomfortable or stressed in some way.
I often exaggerate for comic effect in my writing but I am being deathly serious when I say that the last twenty minutes of this film almost gave me a panic attack. I don’t want to mis-sell it however. This isn’t a film with lots of jumpscares or graphic violence or even much of anything at all. It is a film however that features a constant low level of impending doom. An ominous dread that is heightened by the odd supporting characters and the strange filming technique and anchored by a couple of very solid performances from Curran and Cilella as the two leads.
Resolution is a film that works on an allegorical level as well as a visceral one. I can honestly say that I wanted it to all be over by the end. As I write this I still have a dull ache in the pit of my stomach and a feeling that something bad is about to happen. And if that is not the hallmark of a successful horror film then what the hell is?