The Unfamiliar (2020)

Directed by: Henk Pretorius | 89 minutes | horror, thriller | Actors: Jemima West, Christopher Dane, Rebecca Hanssen, Harry McMillan-Hunt, Rachel Lin, Tori Butler-Hart, Ben Lee, Guy Warren-Thomas, Beatrice Woolrych

After her return from the war in Afghanistan, British army doctor Elizabeth is plagued by paranormal hallucinations. Does she suffer from PTSD? Is the house bewitched? Or is there something else going on? Her husband suggests a family vacation in Hawaii to ease the tension. There, Elizabeth comes to the shocking conclusion that a dark, demonic entity is likely the source of the problem. To save her family, she finds herself drawn into a sinister and chilling mythological underworld.

‘The Unfamiliar’ starts as a typical haunted house story. One of the family members, in this case the lady of the house, suddenly experiences strange and terrifying visions, after which the unexplained incidents pile up rapidly. An apparently original approach is that the origin of the creepy events in this film has a link with Hawaiian mythology. Unfortunately, this is rather clumsy. In this case, Hawaiian is mainly a coat rack term for the exotic, which is hardly elaborated further and above all remains a vague vehicle for a mountain of generic and clichéd ‘jump scares’.

Besides, ‘The Unfamiliar’ is a messy movie. Ideas and possible explanations are regularly fired at us, but they usually kill or disappear from the narrative at high speed and without explanation. It also doesn’t help that the film barely takes the time to properly introduce or deepen the main protagonists. The result: an at times confused and incoherent whole, which, despite the not very ingenious story, is sometimes difficult to follow.

Visually, ‘The Unfamiliar’ does have its bright spots now and then, especially at the rare moments when the demonic bringer of mischief briefly steps into the limelight. All in all, though, it’s a muddled film that doesn’t quite live up to its horror aspirations and largely sticks to old-fashioned horror clichés.