"Shepherd", a reclusive thriller about a lighthouse keeper
A beautiful and at times over-the-top movie with sheeple and a screaming figure in black.
The new position does not bode well for Mr. Black (Tom Hughes): the grief-stricken widower is hired as caretaker on the island. In his jurisdiction are shaggy sheep that can never be counted, Baxter the dog, an old friend from the mainland, and a lighthouse: the wind blows between the walls, the generator doesn't work, but there are some gas lamps and a telephone (more for decoration). The fisherwoman (Kate Dickey) promises to return in a week with supplies, but in the meantime Eric is left to the dimensionless grief and fear of heights: climbing the spiral staircase to the "bedroom" in the evening is the major feat of each day.
"Shepherd" looks like everything and at once, but the recognizability of the picture is to the face. And the isolation with the watery contour of the horizon has never hurt horror movies: the landscape is only destructive to the minds of unhappy islanders. Eric walks heavily through the dank pastoral of a piece of land, where the leaden sky overhangs, rocks underfoot, overgrown with moss, the sound of water in his ears - it is with this picturesque overlay of romance that Black imagined a bereavement vacation. Of course, the hermit would not be alone - the rustles and storms, the strange figure in black and the pervasive sense of guilt. The details of the beloved's (Gaia Weiss) death, though devoid of detective intrigue, are nevertheless gradually revealed - the hatred of the mother-in-law, the baby in the womb, the dangerous addictions. There's nothing unusual about the biography, though; everything paranormal wanders around.
Visually and structurally, Russell Owen's film looks over his shoulder at Robert Eggers' obsession sagas, rhyming equally with both "Beacon" and "The Witch." It echoes the director's debut in faces, too -- artist Kate Dickey has played most of the young horror masters lately (sorry, Ari Aster): twice with Eggers (in "Viking," too), in David Lowry's "The Legend of the Green Knight," the knock-out comedy "The Wicked" by Ninian Doff and Alice Lowe's body-horror "Premonition." A couple more titles and Dickey could be on par with Lin Shaye as the godmother of all pristine cursed corners. Here, the former sailor metaphorically looks into the ascetic's soul and tries to encourage the caretaker to keep a better eye on himself.
The race either to total insanity or to liberation and forgiveness is divided into pages: the lighthouse chief's diary strictly measures the dates, the door to limbo opened in January. The picture has all the necessary elements for a charismatic slouberner: a pretty good actor, Mother Nature at her best and worst, and a dark secret nestled on her chest. But the director seems to be terrified that he won't have enough artistic and expressive means, so he overloads the frame with everything he can get his hands on. Most of the intrusions of a floating silhouette walking by hand with a rich soundtrack seem to cheapen the picture, seeking to attribute the features of a genre attraction to the action. But the unnecessary noise is quickly forgotten as blood runs through the family relationship and consciousness gives rise to a new fracture.
"Shepherd" is a beautiful, dreary and at times oppressive film that will be remembered for its frame aesthetic and a few missed opportunities. However, and the name of the director (Russell Owen!) should not be forgotten immediately, it is likely that the director's next picture will outplay "Shepherd" in skill, as he, in turn, did the previous one.
This article was sponsored by Simona Serban
Commentaires