- Director: Savvas Christou
- Writer: Savvas Christou
- Stars: William Kircher, Tori Kostic, Jolene Andersen
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 30 Minutes
- Link: Katherine’s Lullaby (2020) – IMDbwww.imdb.com › title
Synopsis
Lily is a runaway from her abusive father. Her boyfriend, Neil, reminds her not to turn on her phone because of the tracking. They set up a tent in the woods. Neil goes off for water and doesn’t come back, but since he took Lily’s cellphone, she’s lost and unable to call for help. The next day, she runs and finally comes to a house.
Evan, the man who lives in the house, invites her in. He seems very helpful and friendly. He’s also a little strange. Not only that, but he’s apparently going to help her whether she wants the help or not. Evan looks like he might be every bit as angry and abusive as the father that she just left.
He locks her in the closet in the dark. He goes on and on about her beginning her “training” because she has to be the best. At one point, she thinks he’s going to rape her, but all he wants is for her to do some sit-ups. She eventually earns his trust enough to be allowed upstairs. She rebels, and he locks her in the basement again.
Lily’s a prisoner, but since she’s so used to an abusive lifestyle, her routine doesn’t seem to have changed much. Evan seems to think she’s his daughter, Katherine, who also left him.
Evan’s brother, Jeff, comes over, and Evan explains that Katherine’s back and in training. Jeff asks if Evan is off his meds, and Evan promises to go see the doctor. Jeff doesn’t even imagine that there’s a real person downstairs, so he just leaves.
Evan doesn’t hit Lily; he’s nice in an impossibly overbearing way. Lily knows better than to rebel or fight back too much. He hands her a knife in the kitchen at one point, but she’s not ready to go that far just yet.
She starts reading Katherine’s diary. We get a flashback to Evan and his wife. She explains that Evan is driving Katherine too much. “You need to stop this madness!” She insists. She’s killed in an auto accident not long after that.
Neil comes by and asks Evan about his missing girlfriend. Evan yells at him, and Neil rides off. Not long after, Lily whacks Evan in the head with a flowerpot and tries to run off, but she can’t get out of the house.
Will Lily ever get away? And what exactly happened to the real Katherine? Is Evan as crazy as he seems?
Commentary
This is a weird one. You realize Evan is a kidnapper and more than a little crazy, but he’s not physically abusive like Lily’s first father. It’s a really slow burn, but the ending really hit a home run. The acting is top-notch from both the main actors and although Lily is the main character, you empathize with Evan as well… kinda.
This is purely psychological and situational horror; there are no real monsters or gore here. Still, long-term kidnapping is pretty scary, but this film makes it seem very believable. I really like the last fifteen minutes.