‘Are You There?’ Review
Stars: Laura Sollet, Eva Meyerson, Madison Geiger, Mbeng Klovis, Chase Bridges, Kay Galvin | Written by Brian S. Tedeschi, Vicki Vass | Directed by Kim Noonan
Are you there? It’s an innocuous question, and one which opens up a world of otherworldly hurt for naive psych student Rosa (Laura Sollet). Hoping to speak to the spirit of her dead Abuela, Laura finds herself thrust into a dangerous game of life and death when she lights a candle and asks the titular question.
With each follow-up query and every drip of the candle, Laura comes closer to sealing her own terrible fate. She’s shepherded down this path by demons both literal and figurative, and not the beloved Abuela she’d been searching for. Supernatural horror film briefly turns into home invasion flick as she’s attacked by a volatile male aggressor – his firm hand over her mouth proving a clue to unlocking Laura’s own past trauma.
Directed by Kim Noonan, Are You There? is a pared-down version of Talk To Me or any Ouija-themed movie one might care to recall. It’s an effective enough hook for the story, although there’s not so much urgency when you realise that Laura could just blow the candle out at any time and end the conversation.
A game-for-it Sollet bears much upon her shoulders, being front and centre for the bulk of the film’s 90-minute runtime. She gives a spirited performance as the plucky ghost-botherer, even if the script by Brian S. Tedeschi and Vicki Vass doesn’t always serve her well.
There are some legitimately unsettling visuals to be found in the film’s creepiest sequences – including one standout effect involving a shovel and a man’s face. However, these moments of inspiration can be few and far between. Veering wildly between supernatural horror film and grounded psychological thriller, Are You There? doesn’t always seem sure what it wants to be. This is most evident in the back half, where it comes off the rails entirely. It’s a twist that’s heavy-handed at best (a hand over the mouth, to labour the point), and cliché at worst.
Are you still there? By the end, there’s no guarantee, especially once the film’s left-field finale arrives, having shed its less patient audience members, long since put off by the poor pacing and inconsistent atmosphere.
