The atmosphere of the film was absolutely fantastic, it’s eery and creepy and at the same time the house does have a romantic charm, I found the setting really great.
But… I don’t think having a great atmosphere and settings is enough to make a great film. A film is a mix of several things, and some films will focus more on certain aspects and that’s fine, but sacrificing the cohesion of the story to go all in on atmospheric horror feels like a shame.
The story really doesn’t make too much sense, from beginning to end, and the main character’s actions and decisions are always the less effective. It felt like the scenes came first (and some were really visually striking) and to achieve them, characters acted in a certain manner, even if doing so was stupid from their point of view.
But what bothered me the most is that the film lacked cohesion.
It would have worked fine as a psychological thriller/horror, but it brings supernatural elements that didn’t make much sense and didn’t feel necessary imo. They also felt very random, which is really something that bothered me. The film added some typical horror scenes, that didn’t belong here and didn’t really have a place in the narrative. The painting scene in particular, and more generally the toy rabbit that’s on the poster are good examples of that to me, they felt more like a conventional horror tropes than something really needed.
In the end, neither the supernatural occurrences nor the characters motives and past are really explained. It felt like the film tried out several things, but didn’t commit to any direction so we’re left with multiple loose ends.
