In the best of times, the concept of family can be the most heartwarming thing anyone can ever experience. But sometimes, when the circumstances go horribly wrong, it can also be the most chilling, isolated thing in the world. THE LODGE is a horror film that opts to tell a story from the latter camp, as Riley Keough’s Grace is about to encounter a weekend from hell with her two future step-children.
Aidan (Jaeden Martell) and Mia (Lia McHugh) aren’t exactly the best of friends with their soon-to-be step-mother, and unfortunately, their father (Richard Armitage) has to leave the trio alone in a snowy cabin. But before anyone can start making s’mores and sharing their feelings, sinister events start to occur.
Check out the trailer to THE LODGE below, and see the beginnings of this dark tale unfold.
As you can see, when the family dynamic changes in THE LODGE, the real terror begins. Aidan and Mia start to investigate Grace’s past and find the fact that she’s the lone survivor of a death cult rather unsettling. Especially when it looks like Grace is seeing and hearing visions connected to her traumatic past, and safety is not guaranteed.
Considering directors Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala made a similarly flavored horror with their indie hit GOODNIGHT MOMMY, the possibility that these children could be more than they seem creeps into view from frame one.
But it’s Riley Keough’s understated performance as Grace that really makes THE LODGE a standout. Just from looking at the footage above, there’s a sense that her protagonist is barely hanging onto sanity, with the potential for her to lose her grip at any given moment. It’s heartbreaking with a heaping help of frightening — and it’s what the horror genre has always done best in this particular sort of movie.
Originally slated to release last fall, THE LODGE found itself delayed into its new February home. It’s the best thing that could have happened to the film, as horror traditionally plays well in the earlier portion of the year. Also, the weather is cold enough outside that audiences who accept this chilling journey might feel all the more colder as they walk back to their cars.
Should that be the case, then THE LODGE will truly have done its job of getting under people’s skin, and freaking them out in the most intimate way possible.
Head to THE LODGE at an AMC theatre near you this weekend.
