Matcollis
This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.
Hadrina
The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful
Neive Bellamy
Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.
Cristal
The movie really just wants to entertain people.
orringrey
They Remain is a triumphant, beautiful, meticulous, difficult, challenging, intentionally abstract and recursive film. As such, it's likely to also be a divisive one. For those who didn't have the patience for, say, The Witch, They Remain will probably drive you nuts. But for those who are willing to meet the film where it is, rather than expecting it to come to you, I think that you will be amply rewarded.I hesitate to even call They Remain a slow burn. The words "slow burn" give the implication that it takes a while for things to get started, that they smolder for a long time before finally bursting into flame. When the first frame of They Remain flashes up on screen, things have already gotten strange, and that strangeness just continues to accrete on every surface, on every character, on everyone and everything for the remainder of the film's running time. It's a recursive movie, as I said, which means that it doesn't have a typical movie's build to some sort of satisfying (or unsatisfying, for that matter) climax. It turns back in on itself time and again. Do things get stranger? Sure. But do they really, or have they been that strange the whole time?They Remain isn't a movie that offers easy answers. In fact, it isn't even a movie that offers difficult ones. It's a film that opens itself up to myriad interpretations, all of them potentially valid, without ever offering even the most astute observer one particular "solution" to seize upon. For some viewers that may prove infuriating, but when a movie tells you repeatedly that you won't understand it, even as early as in the quote that shows up before the first shot of the film actually appears, you may only have yourself to blame if you walk out of it unsatisfied.
millsm-90433
I really liked this film. I watched as a fan of independent films so maybe came with less of a horror nut's expectations for blood and guts but I found it scary. The actors are both terrific and the film looks stunning (I loved "Zoo", shot by the same DP!). Totally enjoyable way to spend a night in, be a little spooked and wonder what lurks in your own head!
shnevin
I don't think I've seen a film quite like this one. The best way I can describe it is it's like Mulholland Drive meets Alien. It's a psychological meditation about the horrors that lay dormant just below the surface of modern civilization.If you like avant garde film and are intellectually curious, this is well worth the watch.
gavin6942
Two scientists who share a romantic history are tasked with investigating unnatural animal behavior on the site of a Manson Family-style cult's compound.Laird Barron is the author of several books, including "The Croning", "The Imago Sequence", "Occultation", "The Light Is the Darkness", and "The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All". Despite this impressive list of titles, "They Remain" is the first film to be adapted from Barron's work.In horror, there is something known as the "slow burn", a film that relies more on building a sense of tension and tone rather than a fast-paced scary, in-your-face gorefest. "They Remain" is definitely going for the slow burn method, though some might doubt whether it has been achieved. The film can fairly be described as "minimalist", and as such viewers may find there is very little actually burning. Does the thin plot pay off in the end? Because of its screening at a Lovecraft film festival, it seems appropriate to discuss any themes that might be Lovecraftian. And indeed, the idea of there being a connection between geography and madness is very much a Lovecraft-inspired topic. In fact, this may be the most interesting part of the film: is the cult a one-off, or is there something otherworldly that causes such behavior time and time again? And if the latter, what is the cause? Lovecraft dabbled with the ideas of non-Euclidean geometry affecting areas (architecture) and radioactive meteors altering moods. But what does "They Remain" offer? For the horror fans, there will likely be some disappointment with the average makeup effects, particularly the burn wounds in one scene. In other technical areas, the film excels. The framing, cinematography, score and so on are all top-notch. The acting is excellent, and the two leads successfully take a thin plot and carry the run time's weight."They Remain" debuted October 7 at the H. P Lovecraft Film Festival. It should be reaching a wider audience in the near future, presumably by late Fall 2017 via Paladin Films.