The Empty Man

The Empty Man
Image source: Google

Ratings: 2/5

Director: David Prior

Producers:  Stephen Christy, Ross Richie

Writer: David Prior

Genre: Thriller and Horror

Release Date: October 23, 2020

Star Cast: Aaron Poole, Adam Ferguson, Connor Dowds, Evan Jonigkeit, James Badge Dale, Jessica Matten, Joel Courtney, Marin Ireland, Owen Teague, Rasneet Kaur, Robert Aramayo, Ron Canada, Samantha Logan, Stephen Root, Tanya van Graan, Virginia Kull

Plot:

It is the year of 1995 in Bhutan and the story begins from there. Only to later understand that the actual story is to start from the year 2018, and that heavy and spooky atmosphere is just to set the tone. It sets up a lot of what is to come with foreshadowing and symbolism and all of that makes more sense in retrospect. It is a prologue after which one finds themselves in the year 2018 in Webster Mills, Missouri, a small town outside of St. Louis.

The ex-cop James (James Badge Dale) and the grizzled self-defense shop owner is drawn into an unusual disappearance of his former lover Nora’s (Marin Ireland) daughter Amanda (Sasha Frolova).

He is a private detective, who starts his work of finding the girl by asking around about her. When he is enquiring around at the local high school, Davara (Samantha Logan) introduces him to the concept of ‘The Empty Man’, an urban legend. The Empty Man is described as a slender man-like figure summoned by kids that really should know better.

The story takes a sharp turn when James decides to look elsewhere for more concrete information and he later has to carry the burden of the death of Davara. He finds himself sinking deeper and deeper into the mystery that surrounds the stories related to the urban legend. He stumbles onto another word that doesn’t make much sense and he takes a while to follow up on that clue he's found relating to an enigmatic something called the Pontifix Institute.

Later, it unfolds that James is down a path towards the Ponitfix Society. It is a secretive cult interested in the ‘transmission’ of ideas led by Arthur Parsons (Stephen Root) who is a quasi-preacher and is interested in sharing the message of The Empty Man.

James is determined to get to the bottom of this and so he researches more about Arthur and the Ponitfix Society and to get a better grip of what these people are up to he goes to hear a speech by Arthur. Because of which he ends up in conspiracy territory.

From there on the life of James and everyone around him changes. The investigation starts to unfold, cloaked in philosophical inquiries that transcend the boundaries till the climax of the movie.

Review:

The makers of this movie would have thought that perhaps Halloween is around the corner and what better time than this to release a horror movie. The expectations were high given the time and the genre of the movie. However, to most of the viewers’ dismay, the movie is fairly disappointing.

The Empty Man is a 2020 American supernatural horror thriller based on Cullen Bunn and Vanesa R. Del Rey's graphic novel of the same name published by Boom! Studios.

The Empty Man is a carefully crafted picture, which is edited by Prior and Andrew Buckland (Ford v Ferrari). The best highlight of the movie is the sound design that makes it worth hearing and seeing in a cinema. To its credit, the film does try to create an atmosphere - the sound work is particularly impressive.

Overall the movie doesn’t cut many corners in the process. The film fails to elevate itself to a harmonious balance of camp and the art house. There are times when one can feel that the makers are trying to explore some ideas rather than just indulging in cheap scares and gore, but that feeling doesn’t last long. There is less than meets the eye.

The running time of the film is also far too drawn out at a ludicrous 137 minutes.

Rosemary's Baby (1968) was about the same length but it was far more effective in justifying the same.

While the film has been successful in grabbing the audience’s attention, the only thing is the attention has nothing to do with the movie per se. The copyright year of the movie is 2018 and it still has the old 20th Century Fox logo on it, instead of the new 20thCentury Studios name bestowed by new owner Disney. Quite funny and intriguing at the same time!

Also, this movie has royally flopped in the United States and so it's a bit of a mystery why it's getting a cinema release at all.

While one cannot expect much out of this movie, it is a good option to watch this movie only if you have nothing else to do on a particular day!