Vigil

Well, to say it euphemistically, I didn’t have fun. There were actually moments when I was pretty bored, I can’t say The Vigil is a fountain of entertainment. However, I think two stars would be too harsh, the film is well made and it keeps an almost constant atmosphere, but the script would need something to liven up that single room boredom. The ending, on the other hand, it was almost funny how fast it blows over. (29.11.2020)

A fairly promising and creatively innovative piece, but in the end, it is a dull borefest where almost nothing works. The film draws on Jewish traditions, where the main character is asked to be a "Shomer" – that is, to take a night watch in a house and guard the deceased from the Jewish community. It is quite an original idea, but unfortunately it was not exploited at all. The film is minimalist, set in a house with a minimum of characters, but the director avoids any scares like the plague, there are only two jump scares and unfortunately neither of them worked. The demon doesn't even properly appear, the atmosphere is more uninspiring than dense, and unfortunately the main character is also uninteresting. I was bored and I do not recommend it. Story***, Action>No, Humor>No, Violence>No, Entertainment**, Music**, Visuals**, Atmosphere***, Tension**. 4/10. (28.11.2020)

Unfortunately, the promise of a horror film from an unglamorous Jewish environment very quickly turns out to be an unduly straightforward and formulaic screenplay devoid of original ideas and, most importantly, any sort of atmosphere. It tries to compensate for that with awfully tawdry jump-scares lifted from mainstream horror movies, where loud sound effects announce something leaping out of the shadows. It never gives the audience the feeling that the main character is in any real danger in any way. Keith Thomas chose the path of specific well-trodden tropes to move the story along, and the movie’s finale therefore was already completely doomed to fizzle out by his hand. This movie is a dull, simple and unsatisfying watch. [Sitges 2019] (11.10.2019)

This is a classic horror film with a haunted house, ghosts and a demon, in which the protagonist, a young man who suffers from past trauma and lack of money, is grateful for a one-time deal to be the guardian of a dead member of the Jewish community (which is part of tradition), without knowing what evil will try to get inside him from the dead body. After solid exposition, the film slides quite quickly into a horror routine and a series of standard jump scares, which uses Jewish elements only sporadically and superficially, and instead, it clings to cheap clichés. The tension is built quite densely (although only in individual scenes), many passages are appropriately chilling and the kosher camera works nicely with the darkness, but this is barely enough to create a slightly above average film, and when compared to the promising subject matter, this film has a surprisingly generic and overly hasty ending. (13.10.2019)

It seemed that The Vigil could finally be the first decent horror based on Jewish traditions, myths, and beliefs. In the end, it's just another uninspired demon possession horror that completely squanders its potential. The beginning seemed promising - the first third is quite successful and manages to draw the viewer in and evoke anticipation of fear for what will soon happen. However, once something actually starts happening, the whole movie unfortunately fails and falls into complete mediocrity. Tension and atmosphere are sometimes built fairly well, but it quickly fizzles out almost every time. It never really managed to grab me by the balls and surprise me with something unprecedented. All possible clichés that can be expected in a similar horror are present here - whether it's various plot devices, boring jump scares, or the hero's struggle with their own trauma. No creative playfulness, no innovative way of scaring, simply nothing. It could have been much worse, but it's definitely not a dazzling gem. At best, it's just a purely average affair, but I won't give it that third star because I'm really annoyed by the wasted potential for a gripping atmospheric blast with a Jewish demon. (11.10.2019)