The Atoning Review - A Family Haunting

Summary and Review of The Atoning

Vera: Virginia Newcome Ray: MIchael LaCour Sam: Cannon Boursage Director: MIchael Williams Release: 2017

The opening scene of “The Atoning'' shows Vera, (Virginia Newcomb) attending to her young son, Sam (Cannon Borsage), as he settles down for the night. Vera appears tense as she soothes Sam’s concerns about his father’s whereabouts. It cuts to a dream sequence where Sam is shown to be under threat and the viewer is led to wonder if this is a portent of things to come. At breakfast, the next morning, Sam is greeted with the palpable strain between his parents and the boy feels caught in the middle as he tries to please both and ease the tension. Later on we see that Vera and Ray no longer share a bed so things do seem to be going very badly. However, photos dotted around the house speak of happier times and we are led to wonder what has happened to cause this rift.

The family go about their daily routines in their suburban home and, apart from Vera and Sam, rarely connect with each other. Ray (MIchael LaCour) seems particularly on edge and distances himself from his son, much to the boy’s distress. So far, so dysfunctional family but it’s not long before strange things start to occur, which initially can be explained away, and we soon find out that there are things that go bump in the day, as well as the night.

As events unfold, the family seem to be subject to their own personal hauntings and the narrative develops this theme by carefully peeling back layers of the story, allowing a peek at what’s beneath, until the remnants are unceremoniously ripped away providing a shocking reveal for the family. However, this doesn’t herald the end of the story and the plot only starts to thicken as events become more disconcerting and the family try to reconnect with each other and find a way out of their own private hell.

This is something of a slow-burner for the first half but it’s well paced and decently scripted and I found myself looking forward to the next reveal. The acting was great, although LaCour seemed a little stilted at times, possibly overplaying his emotional distance. However, the estrangement between Ray and Vera and Sam’s bewilderment, over what his parents aren’t telling him, is almost tangible. Newcome and Boursage deserve particular praise for the depiction of their characters, and their mother/son relationship injects a touching level of emotion into the proceedings.

The cinematography is great and lifts the film above the ordinary, creating an atmosphere of quiet dread that seeps through the fabric of the story. The family drift through their days against the backdrop of a muted palette and at night, the tension is ramped up with the use of eerie blue tones. I loved the location and good use of the space was made with stylish composition and lighting. The editing was a bit abrupt here and there which sometimes caused confusion as to whether the scene had changed but this didn’t detract from the visuals, overall.

By the third act, the full appearance of supernatural entities, previously glimpsed, added a new element to mix things up a bit but this is where it became rather theatrical, with an arthouse vibe that wasn't in keeping with the ghostly, haunting tone of the rest of the film. This diversion from the mood was a little jarring but, having said this, I would argue that the director used limited resources in a creative way, given the budget constraints, to bring about a neat conclusion.

At its heart “The Atoning” is a family drama set against a backdrop of traditional horror which is interwoven with themes of good and evil and what it means to atone and to find redemption, if at all. Comparisons may be drawn with a more well-known family ghost story but it’s a well constructed, thought provoking package that won’t scare you off the planet but will provide 90 minutes of solid, eerie entertainment that will linger in the memory a while after you’ve seen it.

3/5