Offseason (2021)

Offseason (2021). Offseason: Directed by Mickey Keating. With Jocelin Donahue, Joe Swanberg, Richard Brake, Melora Walters. After receiving a mysterious letter, a woman travels to a desolate island town and soon becomes trapped in a nightmare.

“Premise is a standard horror trope. Someone called back to a remote town or village by what seems to be circumstance, but ultimately is a plot by a mysterious evil peril. And in this case, we seem to be borrowing the milieu from Lovecraft.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis film is anchored by a protagonist who has to carry the entire enterprise on her shoulders. Jocelin Donahue pulls it off. She is lovely, tired, scared, confused and is a solid actress that makes it work. No other character has that much screen time or relevance, but nobody really does a bad job. Melora Walters is solid in her role as Marieu0026#39;s mom.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe little town filled with weird people who donu0026#39;t ever answer questions when you ask. The plot device of a townie who pulls you aside to let you know something isnu0026#39;t right and they will help. There is nothing new here. And we have a low budget, and no grand affects. So we need pacing, music, flashbacks, quick cuts to keep us engaged and for the most part the director, Mickey Keating does a good job.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe story is about impending inevitable doom. So this is just a ride watching Donahueu0026#39;s Marie character react as she is led further and further into the trap being set by evil.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWe start, carry on, and end in fairly standard horror movie fashion. There is nothing new or wild here. But overall, it is engaging and fairly well-done. This type of horror maybe lacks the cheap scares that certain movie-goers require, but as a fan of horror, I can appreciate it for what it is. A well executed small budget horror movie.”