Directed by Samuel Bodin (Marianne (tv series, 2019); Lazy Company (tv series, 2013 - 2015)) and starring Lizzy Caplan (Cloverfield (2008); Mean Girls (2004); Now You See Me 2 (2016); 127 Hours (2010)), Antony Starr (Wish You Were Here (2012); The World's Fastest Indian (2005)), Woody Norman (Him (tv series, 2016); C'mon C'mon (2021); Poldark (tv series, 2019)) and Cleopatra Coleman (The Argument (2020); Fear Clinic (2014)).
Horror/thriller; 88 mins; 16+
Eight-year-old Peter (Woody Norman) has no friends and lives with his parents Carol (Lizzy Caplan) and Mark (Antony Starr) in an old, dilapidated suburban house. He struggles to make friends in school, while at home he starts to hear noises at night through the walls. While his parents discourage him from thinking there is something there - and his father puts down rat poison to get rid of vermin - he starts to investigate the mysterious knocking sounds
Meanwhile, the new substitute teacher at school, Miss Devine (Cleopatra Coleman), feels uneasy about Peter's situation and goes out to his home to check up on him...
Coming up to Hallowe'en, his parents reveal a neighbourhood story that a young girl went missing from the street a number of years ago, around Hallowe'en.
Peeling back the wallpaper in his room, Peter starts to have conversations with someone, but is it his imagination? Slowly he unveils a dark secret that his sinister parents have kept hidden from him...
Tense and taut, but not really that scary at all. Yes, there are a couple of "jump" moments, but this is much more about the fear of the unknown and the unseen. The film has a number of plot holes and the central plot is fairly predictable. But it is entirely watchable.
Currently screening in Luxembourg at Kinepeolis.
