Absentia

Audience Reviews

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Rey S Mar 28, 2019 A pretty creepy movie. It definitely has some chilling moments and scenes full of tension. For an indie, it's spectacular. It got funding through kickstarter as it was Flannigan's first film... now he's very popular and known for The Haunting of Hill House and Oculus. Absentia is a supernatural movie that involves people going missing due to some monsters (spiders) that take people to the "underneath". The score is very chilling and definitely adds to the overall tension of the film. Katie Parker is phenomenal as Callie, the younger sister of Tricia who had her husband disappear 7 years ago (that's where the movie starts). Flannigan is a fan of Parker as he also cast her in The Haunting of Hill House. The story has a lot of suspense and mystery to it along with the tension and scary moments. I'd definitely recommend this movie to fans of thrillers, but I especially recommend it to horror fans. The best part is that it's not well known, so many people have a treat waiting for them. Temper expectations, but I thought it was a really good movie. See more

Rey S Feb 26, 2019 Overall I enjoyed it. The low budget defiantly shows in terms of visual quality. You never get a good look at the monster but the sound effects and pacing of the film are still quite effective. It's small but has big cosmic horror ideas. It's not funny bad at any point but I just with it had a proper budget. Guess I'll have to check out the TV show See more

Kylo S Dec 23, 2018 Good. Even better because it's low budget. All of Mike Flanagan's stuff is so good.

Anakin W Jun 26, 2017 Movie writer and director Mike Flanagan's Absentia is a truly creepy and harrowing film. Flanagan, known for his other movies such as Hush, Oculus, and Ouija: Origin of Evil is a truly talented screenwriter and movie director and he is making a good name for himself in the world of horror and psychological thrillers with his films. His movie Absentia lives up to the good reputation Flanagan has developed for himself and since it is one of his first, it leaves the audience wanting to see more and more from him in the future. Absentia is set in the town of Glendale, California, where we meet Tricia (Courtney Bell) and her sister Callie (Catherine Parker) who are seeing each other for the first time in years. We learn quickly that Callie disappeared off the map for a while because of a drug problem and even though she led Tricia to believe that she was clean now, we see her hide a canister of what we can deduce to be drugs under her bed. We also learn that Tricia's husband, Daniel, has been missing for seven years. Because of this, Tricia plans on declaring him as "dead in absentia." However, at the same time, she is having visions of her husband, which work very well to startle the audience at times, as he appears randomly and without warning in places where you don't expect him to. Her psychiatrist (Scott Graham) claims that this is how Tricia's mind is coping with the prolonged absence of her husband, but she believes he is angry with her and that's why she's seeing him. From here on out, the plot twists and turns in many directions. We learn that there is a lot more to Daniel's disappearance than we are led to believe in the beginning of movie. Personally, I expected the plot to remain centered on Daniel's hauntings of Tricia the entire time, but that was not the case. Flanagan brings us into a realm of terror much greater than anyone could have imagined upon watching only the first 30 minutes of the film. Flanagan churns stomachs again and again with each plot twist. His talented writing was the most important aspect of this film. The next important aspect that helped to set a scary, unnerving atmosphere was the setting and the music. The town of Glendale, California reminded me a lot of the town where the movie It Follows was filmed. In It Follows, this setting plus the unique choices for music worked effectively to create an uneasy atmosphere throughout the duration of the movie. I wouldn't be surprised if Director David Robert Mitchell and Disasterpeace actually adapted the setting and type of music based on the atmosphere put together by Flanagan and Ryan David Leack in Absentia. Also, one common thing that many horror movies suffer from is the scary music being too much, or intrusive in a way. When something is supposed to make an audience jump, the music gets loud all of the sudden and the music beforehand anticipates the jump scare to create building tension. While this is still an effective tool, Leack took a different approach in Absentia. He chose music that sets an anxious tone for the duration of the movie, not just at specific points. Also, there are some times where the jump scares aren't anticipated by the creepy music. There is simply no sound, and then something happens! In a way, I felt like I was more thoroughly terrified by these types of scares than the other cliché jump scares with loud music characteristic of most horror movies. Catherine Parker and Courtney Bell put on wonderful performances in the movie. They brought life to their characters. Courtney Bell played Tricia's grief effectively and was even more effective in acting distraught, confused, and simply tired of all as one thing after another kept happening. Parker also performed well, and frankly Tricia and Callie's strong relationship was one of the rocks that held a somewhat positive, heartwarming vibe throughout the film, even though there was tension between the sisters at times. Dave Levine also put on a stellar performance as Detective Mallory. We meet Det. Mallory in the beginning of the movie as well, and we learn that he was the detective that worked on Daniel's disappearance case before Tricia decided to declare him dead in absentia. Levine does a good job conveying Mallory's longing to keep Tricia safe and protect her. The only thing slightly negative about the film was that the camera work was slightly shaky since Phase 4 Films is a bit of a low-budget production company, but it doesn't take anything at all away from the excitement and thrill you will experience while watching this movie. You will be on the edge of your seat until the very end, waiting for a resolution to this multidimensional horror story, that will leave you chilled to the bone after its completion. Rating: 4.5/5 See more

Hagrid R Jun 13, 2017 I watched this for the first time about 4 years ago and I loved it, but then when I watched it more recently it wasn't as good as I remember. The acting and graphics aren't fantastic, but the story is still very interesting, kind of similar to Stranger Things. I probably don't need to watch it again though. See more

Kylo G Feb 11, 2017 Great great movie. Also the mirror from Oculus is in the psychiatrists office to make things extra disturbing.

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Absentia

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