The closer Kurt and Ivy become, so does Echo's impact on Kurt's psyche and physical body. Utilizing Ivy's occupation as a Tarot reader gives insight into the realm of the afterlife while also adding a humanistic layer to Echo since the audience knows little about her before she is killed. Everything about the haunting nature of this film feels and looks strong. The small moments that do utilize CGI are done in a way that is not distracting to the point where you are taken out of the story. The way this is done visually is mostly through practical effects.

As Kurt attempts to bury her body in the woods, Echo's presence (as her name suggests) still resonates throughout the house he is fixing up and eventually seeps into the far corners of his mind. The thematic elements that accompany Echo's disappearance are intriguing and well-executed. You would not guess these two are married in real life, which makes their dynamic all the more uncomfortable in the most wonderful way. However, the chemistry between Adams and Poser is a perfect cocktail of suspicion, distance, and intrigue. As a result, the film's capacity for dread and tension is limited. Kurt's lack of identity and consistency coupled with the ending's anagnorisis keeps the depth of his character at a distance. Unfortunately, there is no backstory given to Kurt and therefore, his character is taken at face value. Sure, he knows to buy the right supplies to bury a dead body, but he can only dig a grave so deep– an insult Echo taunts him with as Kurt descends into a state of psychosis. There is a delicately deceptive harmony in his actions that makes the audience question whether or not Kurt has killed before or if this is a one-time occurrence. Driven by her motherly instincts and a natural gift for the craft she had been seemingly fabricating all along, Ivy seeks to lift the veil between the living and the dead in order to find out what happened to her beloved daughter.Īdams successfully conceals Kurt's intentions by allowing the character to spiral into an obscure state of madness. Echo meets her fate one tragic night when she is accidentally run over by a neighbor named Kurt ( John Adams). Her daughter Echo ( Zelda Adams) is an artistic fourteen year old who has an affinity for old-timey music, hunting, and dark shades of lipstick. Poser stars as Ivy, a mother who lives in the snowy Catskill Mountains working as a fortune teller conning grieving widows.

The deeper you dig