Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Starring: Kate Hudson, Gena Rowlands, John Hurt, Peter Sarsgaard
Where to watch: This movie was released in 2005. It keeps doing the rounds on the various OTT platforms
To watch or not to watch: The movie succeeds in creating an atmospheric horror, based on voodoo, which is an interesting plot device, and not something common

Caroline (Kate Hudson) is a hospice nurse who is looking for private work after losing a patient at the hospital where she used to work. She comes across a listing in the newspaper (the movie was made in 2005, when people still looked through the newspapers for jobs and such) for a nursing job in Louisiana, paying $1000 per week. The job would be to take care of Ben Devereaux (John Hurt), who is a wheelchair-bound, almost paralytic old man since he suffered a stroke some time back. At least that’s what his wife, Violet Devereaux (Gena Rowlands), tells Caroline. Caroline is a little sceptical about the job, since it is on the outskirts, but she is convinced by Luke (Peter Sarsgaard), who is the lawyer of the couple. Violet gives Caroline a skeleton key, which opens all the doors in the house, except the attic. Because it is a horror movie, and in horror movies people always go to forbidden rooms/hotels/cabins, Caroline finds the key to the attic and enters it, to find it filled with all the mirrors of the house and other paraphernalia which can be used for black magic, along with a vinyl record titled Conjure of Sacrifice. She later learns that 90 years before, the house was owned by a white couple with two kids (a boy and a girl) who employed a black couple as servants, Mama Cecile and Papa Justify. The black couple would practice a religion called hoodoo, which resulted in them being lynched by a mob. In parallel, Caroline is increasingly confident that Ben wants to tell her something about Violet and that Violet is somehow causing Ben to stay ill. Caroline is determined to save this patient even if this means she has to learn Hoodoo to do it.

It is easy to dismiss this movie because of the cast, as it was the first horror movie for all involved, and it is understandable, but in doing so people would be missing out, and this cannot be said for most of the movies out there. Any horror movie which can deliver without the age old plot of possession or haunting is a win, is definitely refreshing and delivers on the scares by subverting expectations. Unfortunately it does have cheap jump scares (it was made in 2005 after all) and has creaking doors and what not, it is still a solid movie. Do not go into the movie expecting gore or creepiness, or wait, scratch that. It is creepy, mostly atmospheric due to its setting, and it rains a lot in the movie, giving it the dark, muddy, restless feel. The pacing is slow and it reveals the dots disjointedly, but it all comes together in the end, leaving the viewer satisfactorily shocked.

There are plot holes in the movie, after all, not everyone can be Denis Villeneuve, but don’t let them distract you from the storyline. This movie skilfully deals with concepts of racism, trauma, and folklore, and doesn’t need any cheap tricks to keep viewers glued. There are multiple confusing points throughout the movie, which make sense after the ending, so be patient. Kate Hudson made a brave choice to star in a horror movie in between a range of rom-coms; this wouldn’t have been an easy decision. And while John Hurt doesn’t have more than 2 words to speak throughout the movie, he speaks volumes with his eyes and expressions. Peter Sarsgaard is, as always, a pleasure to watch, though he doesn’t get too much screen time, and Gena Rowlands is properly menacing as matron of the house. She embodied the role so well that it is difficult to separate her from it.
Definitely watch this one.