When I read the logline I said: “This is not another ‘Nun’ (2018), is it”? I didn’t create this blog to slate films. Sometimes though, there is only so much one can do. Anyhow, I dug a bit deeper and said: “Why don’t I give it a shot”? And I did. So, this is how it goes: A medieval monk is found brutally murdered in a remote monastery and the Church sends an Inquisitor to investigate it.
A low budget, one location film which shows right off the bat that is good value for money. Brilliant camera work and photography, minimum editing mistakes and convincing acting synthesize a horror/thriller which raises questions such as “Is she a witch”? “Has she made a pact with the devil”? “Whodunnit”? “Are the Church’s representatives so… (fill the blank accordingly)”?
For its money, cast and crew deserve a resounding “congratulations”! Very meticulously made film. But (thankfully, much later than “The Nun”) “The Appearance”, unfortunately, doesn’t escape and falls into the pit of ambiguity and cliche. I got the idea that there was this indecisiveness on how the film needs to end and why. But I got sucked into the story nevertheless.