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Hola amigos, buenas vibras para todos.
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Hello friends, good vibes to all.
Horror, that blessed genre that is so complicated to please. This leads me to think that sometimes I sin of masochism because I'm always looking for recent films to see that are within this style knowing that I will most likely end up disappointed or reproaching myself for the brilliant idea of sitting down to watch a film that I knew I would produce absolutely nothing. It's strange because horror is one of my favorite genres, it really is, but for me to like it and in my humble opinion, it has to be super effective, I don't need a big blockbuster or much less a big box office with its immense publicity, it doesn't have to scare me or put me in tension, nothing like that; as long as it's faithful to the genre and has the basic elements well elaborated I'm calm.
The Offering is one of those films that probably very few people have heard of but to my surprise is one that is effective, emphasizing what I said before; for what it is and for what I was looking to generate this film I do not see it as a disaster compared to others that row in the same direction. This story mixes an anthological demon with all the Jewish religious life, and at least that's interesting for me because there are few times we see combinations like this, plus always when there is an unknown religion in terms of their customs for me I take the opportunity to soak in that culture and this is what really happens in this film. But well, let's go and talk a little about this film that will not be the best but at least it complies.
The plot begins with a married couple, Claire and Art (Emily Wiseman and Nick Blood) who come to visit Art's father who has his house which is also his job since it is a funeral home. The reality is that our protagonist is going through certain financial problems but he is carrying them in secret, no one, not even his own wife, knows about them, so that burden is only being carried by him. They arrive in the Jewish quarter of New York so that Art can convince his father to sell his business in order to save his financial life. The thing is that to try to convince him, he lends himself to help him in the funeral home and unwittingly does something that he would later regret, it would be the beginning of a nightmare that everyone in that house would live.
Due to Art's inexperience, a demon would be loose and it targets Claire and her baby, because yes, she is pregnant. It is from here when the story starts to move, all the typical reactions, events, visions, thoughts and paranormal experiences known we will see them in action but with the incentive that the historical/religious context will help to make everything a little more interesting and gloomy, in the good sense of the word. I think by now and if you are a fan of this genre you will have noticed the amount of clichés there are, starting with everything happening in a funeral home (very convenient) and that the demon in question goes for the most "vulnerable" always. This isn't necessarily a bad thing but it may make it a bit predictable, but what horror movie isn't?...
There are several elements we could talk about. The first is the story itself. I found it repetitive, it is one that I have seen in several films, not the family drama due to the lack of money but the whole background of the demon and its origin. But this is not to be confused with it being bad, as I have already said several times it is a very effective film, it goes to what it is and achieves the reactions in the viewer even if you are expecting them. The whole Jewish theme is super interesting too, we learn a little about them and the handling of their religion in demonic themes, this personally is not something you see a lot and it was one of the things I liked the most, it made the film have a different aura and vibe. I say this because we are dealing with the Hasidic community, one that in itself is very hermetic, so knowing a little of their point of view of faith, rituals and customs, I really saw it as a plus.
Not to brag but I consider that I am cured in terms of terror, it is very difficult for something to scare me, it has to be something incredibly unexpected, hence more than having a hard time many times I laugh and have a good time with the attempts of these films to get the famous jump scare out of the viewers. Of course, I also know that there are people who are more sensitive to this, so I tell them that this story has its attempts to scare them and take them out of their comfort zone for a moment, I think that if you are a scary person it is likely that some of them will make you jump out of your chair. Something that we see a lot is the preamble to the action, the way they prepare the scene little by little, generating tension with the increasing music, which in the end ends in what everyone expects... or not; this phenomenon happens a lot here too.
Despite how predictable it may be, it is not a story that will bore you, also because the film lasts only an hour and a half, which I think is excellent, but against all odds it can be seen. Very sincerely I expected something much worse, I have seen films with more name and budget that have been 10 times worse than this one, I repeat, it is not the jewel in the crown but it passes. The protagonists. The truth is that I have nothing to say, it is a film in which the real value is in the story and the context of it, from there is that we see how the characters cling and get carried away by it. In that sense the performances we see are decent and acceptable, all within what the film really is and delivers. Nothing memorable and remarkable but enough to make you spend an hour and a half of your time enjoying a horror film that could have been terrible but thanks to the attempt of wanting to do something minimally of quality ended up being a film that I did not end up removing it in the middle of the plot.
Having said all that, I give this film a 6.5/10. It was easy a 5.5 or 6 but I want to applaud the attempt. The thing about horror is that you either like it or you don't, it's hard to have grey or half measures, I liked this film but only because of all the incorporation of Jewish life and that everything happens under their rules and customs. It is available on Apple TV and Prime Video if you want to give it a chance. Here is the trailer so you can take a look at it.
Bueno mi gente por hoy es todo, espero que les haya gustado. ¡Un abrazo a todos, nos vemos en la próxima!
Well my people that's all for today, I hope you liked it. ¡Hugs to all, see you all in the next one!



