An art therapist leaves her job and changes her life following a traumatic event at work. Soon, she finds herself surrounded by new people, new experiences, and a particular friendship what will help her move forward and on.
Written by Clara Gabrielle and Marie Laurin and directed by Gabrielle, The Uncanny is listed online as a drama thriller, but it feels more like a drama with some potentially supernatural elements. Yes, potentially as there is some room for the elements to go either way depending on how one interprets what they are watching. The film is one of those carefully crafted, intimate films that has a very specific mood created with the writing and directing coming together to create something that is emotionally complex and connected. Here, things are not all as they seem at first, but the writing keeps the viewer involved throughout, giving them what they need to get into the story, giving them a few outrageous scenes that may disconnect some viewers, but the scripts emotions should bring them right back in. The main strong point of the film is how it connects to emotions and shows exactly what the viewers need to get back into the film If they ever disconnect. While the writing is not perfect, it is solid for most of the scenes and that is something that truly helps the film feel like one whole that is much more than another simple story. Yes, a few scenes feel off or out of place, but overall, there is something powerful here and paying attention will pay off.
The cast is another reason why the film works so well. In the lead of Zouzou, co-writer Marie Laurin is phenomenal. The way she’s connected to the material shows in her performance and she works with the emotions of her character beautifully well. She’s the lead, the reason for this film to be, and she knows it, giving it her all. She’s the central character, the everything here, and she really gives it everything she has. The other cast members are mostly solid. There is one who feels out of place, but the part is not written in a way where you feel like you can like this character, so the acting on their part works, but makes the character unlikable, so naming them here may be unfair. The rest of the cast is good with standout performances from Grainne McDermott as Lily, Jongman Kim as Cash, and Delilah Camille Schneider as Mae. The cast does more than well here, they shine in this emotionally complex material.
The film’s look here is another good aspect. The cinematography by Bianca Butti is great and clearly done with careful attention to detail and intention in how the images should be shown. The style adapts to the story, to what is going on, with some scenes looking dreamy and hazy, some scenes being crispy clear, and the light work being just right.
The Uncanny is an emotionally powerful movie that will bring some people into its story from the very start, but some may not connect with it based on style. It’s a drama with a lot of emotions thrown at the viewer, it has some difficult themes throughout, and it ends in a very particular way, so viewer beware, but those ready for a ride with an interesting payoff, go right in and enjoy.