- Directed by Mike Flanagan
- Written by Mike Flanagan
- Stars Katie Parker, Courtney Bell, Dave Levine
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 27 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wN1kyOUm8uk
Spoiler-Free Judgement Zone
It’s a supernatural missing-persons case with lots of drama. It’s suspenseful, but there’s nearly no action, special effects, or gore. It’s more drama than horror, it’s also a very slow burn, edging into the territory of boring.
Synopsis
Tricia takes down her husband’s “Missing” poster from a streetlight pole and puts up a fresh one. He’s been gone for a while it appears. She meets her sister Callie, who’s just returned from a road trip that went on for five years. Tricia is in the process of declaring Danny dead “in absentia” after seven years. It’s been rough on her.
Tricia wakes up that night and sees Danny standing by the windows, crying. She touches him, and he roars at her; just a dream.
Next morning, Callie goes for a run which takes her through the creepy tunnel at the end of the street. She passes many “missing animal” posters in the neighborhood. On the way back, she finds a man lying in the tunnel. “You can see me?” He asks. “It’s sleeping,” he says. He’s Walter. She runs home.
Detective Mallory is there visiting. He mentions things have been going missing all over the area. Break ins with no clues. He warns them to lock their doors. He leaves, and she sees Danny again, but she’s not asleep. Her therapist says it’s a normal thing.
A few hours later, Callie takes food to Walter, but he’s gone. She leaves a Tupperware full of food for him, just in case. After her run the next day, Callie finds change and a bunch of trinkets on her doorstep. She puts them back in the tunnel, but a man tells her not to do it. He leaves his own bag of stuff there and walks away. That night, she finds a whole bunch more junk— in her bed.
Daniel whispers to Tricia as she tries to meditate. Detective Mallory gets positively angry to hear someone has been in the house, and we suspect he’s the baby’s father.
Next morning, Callie runs in a different place then gets high after, although she’s supposed to be sober. Daniel’s death certificate arrives in the mail. The two girls go out and look for an apartment, so Tricia can finally sell the house.
On Tricia and Mallory’s first date, the real Daniel shows up. “You can see me?” He asks. “I was underneath.” Eventually, they release him from the hospital. Daniel acts like he’s in shock and says he doesn’t remember where he was, but Mallory doesn’t believe him.
Later Daniel reads “Three Billy Goats Gruff,” and complains “That’s not what it looks like.” “I wish you hadn’t traded with it. It fixates on that.” He says “It’s in one of the walls over there,” and Callie sees something move as well.
While Tricia is out talking to Mallory, something happens to Callie, and then Daniel is gone again. She saw “it” drag Daniel out the front door, down the street, and into the tunnel. The detectives realize right away that she’s been high and dismiss her story.
Tricia files another missing persons report. Tricia thinks Callie hallucinated the whole thing, but Callie insists otherwise.
Callie does some Internet research and identifies Walter from the Internet; he was missing since 1995. People have been disappearing there since the 1920s. This has been going on for a very long time. Tricia is in denial, which seems completely reasonable.
Daniel’s parents finally arrive by plane, not realizing that he’s already gone again.
The police come to the door and say that a body has been found in the tunnel. It’s Walter. That other man who was there with the bag screams and the police tackle him. He’s Jaime, Walter’s son. He had been trading with the monster trying to get his father back.
Callie goes to the police that night and reports that the monster took Tricia right out of the living room. They tell her to file a missing persons report.
Callie puts all her evidence and research into an envelope for Mallory and then goes into the tunnel. She yells “Trade,” and hears many screams coming from behind the walls. The unborn baby appears on the ground, dead. Callie runs but vanishes completely.
Detective Mallory comes by again and finds the envelope packet. Will he solve this? Doubtful.
Commentary
Tricia’s reactions are pretty believable and realistic, considering her situation. Daniel’s behavior seems believable for what he went through, and Callie just reacts to everything as well as she can. It’s all very depressing and emotional, at least until the monster shows up.
Believe it or not, the whole plot is based on the Three Billy Goats Gruff story, with the Troll under the bridge.
It’s slow, especially the first half-hour or so. Nothing particularly supernatural happens for almost the first full hour, but when it does, it gets interesting. It’s a low-budget film, but done competently with good production values.