An ambitious experiment in aural immersion, this is a movie filmed to be heard. That is its strongest pitch but it may dissuade audiences seeking a film where things actually occur onscreen. It is the best sounding movie of the year, but even listening closely you might not hear anything worthwhile.
It is certainly more of an experience than a coherent story, but that aligns with the character’s perspective as the line between her reality and eerie audio recordings begins to blur. By design, the film is minimalistic, centered around a single character for most of the duration. We hear, rather than see, her interactions with others, and the one actor that shares a scene with her is silent. The tension and dread come in the silence, the ominous notion not that the house is silent, but a presence is concealing itself. There are plenty of wide-angle shots where you’d expect something to appear at any second, but instead of an expected jump-scare or gibbering ghoul, we sit in liminal moments of building tension. You feel the character’s disquiet, as she turns and strains to hear something that might be lurking just outside the periphery, but chooses to never make itself known. And as she strains, every creak, whisper or sudden noise becomes a jarring intruder.
Credit to director Tuason, who shot this entire film in his childhood home on a budget that would barely cover craft services from a studio production. He’s demonstrated a genuine knack for building dread and tension out of silence and emptiness and he’s already slated to direct the next Paranormal Activity film. And he’s a perfect fit, as he’s already mastered the parts that involve long stretches of nothing happening. Which unfortunately describes the majority of this film.
All the buildup barely attempts to pay off. It just sits in constant tension that quickly becomes tedium until the final moments. While this does finally provide some decent escalation, it comes too late to relieve the burden, then ends abruptly. The tagline promised the scariest movie that you’ll ever hear, and didn’t lie, especially if you loathe podcasts.