The Unfamiliar (2020)

The Unfamiliar: Directed by Henk Pretorius. With Jemima West, Christopher Dane, Rebecca Hanssen, Harry McMillan-Hunt. A British Army doctor comes back from a war, thinking that she has PTSD only to discover that there is a more daunting malevolence at work making the life that she knew unfamiliar.

“Premise starts nicely. Woman returns from a war zone performing as a doctor. Then she starts seeing things that arenu0026#39;t there. And it isnu0026#39;t PTSD. So at this early mark in the film, all energy and spookiness leaves. What is left is a tired retread of of standard elements of a haunting. And by standard I mean stock elements simply presented one after the other to piece together the plotline, plodding its way to the inevitable end. Right down to the standard stock trope of an end. It felt like after the 15 minute mark, once the plot had been established, all effort ended with the script to do anything with itself. It could have been a silent film without any notation, and I would have still understood the plot line and resolution. That says something. The film was made adequately, and the acting is decent. Just nothing in the script to create any tension or scares.”