In Resurrection, a mother desperately tries to keep her past life from spilling into her present as an old figure walks back in to her life
Resurrection premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. It is seeking U.S. distribution.
Halfway through Resurrection, there’s a 10-minute scene where Margaret (Rebecca Hall) recounts a traumatic period of her life to a coworker. It’s done in close-up and in a single-take. The camera doesn’t move, and neither does Margaret. Memories spill out from her as a single tear falls down her face. There aren’t hysterics, it’s like suddenly, a pipe burst. Margaret, usually so controlled, has lost it for the first time.
Her admission is so outlandish that it’s difficult to stomach at first. Her coworker Gwyn (Angela Wong Carbone) even asks if she’s messing with her. But when you sit with what she said you realize that it’s too detailed to be anything but real, and it justifies Margaret’s response when David (Tim Roth), a man from her past, comes roaring back into her life.
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Though it has the sheen of a gaslit woman thriller — Steven Soderbergh’s Unsane or Leigh Whannell’s The Invisible Man — director Andrew Semans keeps much of the movie slight in comparison. There are scenes of a paranoid Margaret running through the streets convinced she’s being followed, and much of the horror is left to the imagination. Though an early image hints that this thriller is unafraid to tread fully into the dark waters of horror.
Without spoiling the contents, because the plot is already so straightforward, Resurrection is about the psychological impacts of grooming and the accompanying Stockholm Syndrome that lingers well past the fact. Rebecca Hall’s performance will rattle you to the core as she physically reacts to her perfectly curated life beginning to crumble around her. And though this descent becomes repetitive, the movie’s surprisingly gruesome finale more than makes up for it.
As Semans tries to dredge up some thematic weight around motherhood to tie the story together in a pretty bow, he nearly loses control of the movie. “I am a good mother,” Margaret says when she’s challenged. But Resurrection is at its best when it’s messy and unafraid to leave threads dangling. Ultimately, I’m not sure if it’s more than a well-made psychological thriller, but there are scenes that I know will stick with me. I feel that in the pit of my stomach (that’s a hint).
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Hey! I’m Karl. You can find me on Twitter here. I’m also a Tomatometer-approved critic.
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Hey, I'm Karl, founder and film critic at Smash Cut. I started Smash Cut in 2014 to share my love of movies and give a perspective I haven't yet seen represented. I'm also an editor at The New York Times, a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, and a member of the Online Film Critics Society.