Actress Romola Garai makes a distinctive feature directorial debut with “Amulet,” even if this upscale horror drama is ultimately more impressive in the realm of style than substance. It’s some sty…
,” even if this upscale horror drama is ultimately more impressive in the realm of style than substance. It’s some style, though: She hasn’t just created a stylish potboiler, but a densely textured piece that makes for a truly arresting viewing experience to a point. A shame then that the film succumbs somewhat to the more pretentious and silly aspects of Garai’s initially cryptic puzzle of a script.
Now, he works construction jobs for under-the-table sustenance pay while staying in a squat with other refugees. His PTSD is such that he binds his arms and feet with duct tape to prevent causing self-harm during night terrors. That makes escape difficult when some presumed anti-immigrant fanatic sets fire to the place, and he barely escapes alive. Waking in a hospital, Tomaz discovers he and his precious few belongings were saved by Sister Claire .
The climax, which makes a leap into CGI fantasy imagery, draws obscure connection between that fatefully intervening nun, a strange talisman young Tomaz once found in the forest, and some eternal evil that requires self-sacrificing human caretakers. As a mythology, it’s a bit too little too late, and as scary cinema, it isn’t, very.
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