The Quiet Ones – Overview/ Review (with Spoilers)

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Overview

A young possessed girl lives off the feign hope which a nearly insane doctor provides.

Review (with Spoilers)

I dropped this from my movie watching schedule when it first came out because the first reviews for it were bad. However, being that I like Olivia Cooke on Bates Motel, I thought it was worth giving a chance. Plus, Jared Harris I thought was decent on Mad Men, so I figured that despite me not being a big time fan of the horror genre, maybe this could be one of those exceptions.

Characters & Story

Jane (Olivia Cooke) is a rather odd girl. She is seemingly possessed by this being named Evie and has lived an unfortunate life of going from foster home to foster home until she ends up in the care of Professor Joseph’s (Jared Harris). He is a man who studies abnormal psychology and seems very interested in the supernatural, but like any doctor I’m sure you have dealt with, once he sets his mind to a diagnosis, he utterly refuses to stray from it. Leading to many issues between himself and the three students who assist him. One being Brian (Sam Claflin), who is the newest recruit and acts as the documentarian for the whole rehabilitation; then there is Harry (Rory Fleck-Bryne) and Kristina (Erin Richards), who quite honestly I am not sure what value they bring besides being witnesses.

And witness all parties involved do. For as Professor Joseph antagonizes Evie, she shows herself. But, with the ultimate goal being to rid Jane of Evie, the professor pushes Jane, and his students, to their limits. Making you wonder as you watch, will he succeed?

Praise

Quite honestly, any praise I could come up with is lukewarm at best. Like mentioning how the jump scares, of which there were only really 6 for an hour and a half movie, were sort of good. I could attempt to say Harris and Cooke gave some decent type of performance in the film, as well as note the special effects department are worth giving some claps. But, in all honesty, praising this film is like giving a consolation prize to the person who came in last.

Criticism

And the reason why it is hard to praise this film is because it is just such a bore. The story doesn’t create any sense of interest as it dwells on the belief of the supernatural, as well as how Jane should be handled. Then, for reasons I don’t fully get, it seems like it wants to have a documentary feel sometimes, even using a filter to mimic the quality of a camera from the 1970s, and yet most of the film is shot clean and clear. But, perhaps the best way to describe watching this film is to have you remember a time when you had a paper due, or something that had to be done for work the next day, so you pulled an all-nighter.  During this all-nighter, you drank coffee or red bull; smacked yourself; or even took a cold shower to stay up. And, to me, with how dull this film is, considering all the screams, jump scares, and Brian making clapping noises to signify he has started filming to be how the film tries to keep you attentive and awake. Perhaps in vain since even after about a half hour or so I have forgotten most of what happened outside of the most gruesome parts.

Overall: Skip It

I am not even sure how I finished this movie quite honestly. And, as of now, perhaps the only film which I think is worse than this maybe Nebraska. Which, even with how boring I thought that film was, at least is had a silver lining with June Squibb. For The Quiet Ones, though, there is no silver lining.  Hence why I say to just skip it, and while Olivia Cooke may have been the draw for me to watch this, honestly after seeing this film I may just stick to being a fan of her portrayal of Emma on Bates Motel and leave it at that.