They Remain, 2018.
Directed by Philip Gelatt.
Starring William Jackson Harper and Rebecca Henderson.
SYNOPSIS:
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.
The flippant description of Philip Gelatt’s They Remain is that it’s Annihilation meets the 1973 Wicker Man. But there’s nothing flippant about the film itself. Gelatt and team have rendered an exercise in minimalist horror, a slow burn that burns so slowly that you might wonder if there’s a fire at all. There is, but it takes some time to come to the fore and, even then, the film chooses to live largely in ambiguity.
Based on the short story –30– by noted horror author Laird Barron, They Remain creates an uncanny atmosphere by adding to and altering parts of the natural landscape. Gelatt smartly shifts the location from a California desert to a dense, verdant forest tinged with autumn colors. This allows for the changes in nature to be assorted and partially concealed. Jessica discovers what looks like the twisted horn of a long dead, and massive, animal. Ants and yellow jackets move in odd formations. Also, quick, jagged visions of the cult that occupied the land are spliced in, clashing with the richly textured forest shots as well as the antiseptic geometry of the scientists’ tents.
The spare story benefits from a pair of intriguing performances from William Jackson Harper (The Good Place) and Rebecca Henderson (Mistress America) who play scientists Keith and Jessica tasked by a mysterious corporation with canvassing the area and cataloging the strange wildlife. A vague, eventually sexual, tension exists between them, but apart from that little is known. Both Harper and Henderson take advantage of the cipher-like nature of their characters and turn in performances that keep the viewer uneasy with their actions and unsure of their motives.
The cinematography by Sean Kirby, who shot documentaries like Zoo and The Gits, is powerfully evocative and does a lot to define the world that Keith and Jessica study. Often, the characters, particularly Keith, are framed with lots of headspace creating a dwarfing effect. In one memorable shot, that echoes the film’s poster, Keith is wreathed by foliage so that it takes a beat to even notice him.
As Keith sets up cameras and takes samples, Jessica stays behind in the compound, presumably conducting experiments. We stay dialed into Keith’s perspective over the course of the film as he finds the desiccated, mutated corpses of animals and later an unmarked necropolis of ancient human bones. All of this (understandably) makes him increasingly uneasy. Since everything is filtered through his point of view, when he begins to suspect Jessica of having ulterior motives it is unclear whether he is an unreliable narrator or not. Ultimately, the movie answers that question but not many others.
The performances, atmosphere, look and score (an unnerving and varied collection of taps and clicks coupled with lilting dirges) are enough to recommend They Remain. Fans of cerebral (and very slow) horror will find much to dig into. The jump-scares are sparse and the gore is isolated to a select few scenes. As a package, They Remain feels narratively incomplete but deeply intriguing.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Sam Kitagawa
