When her boyfriend dies suddenly in an accident, psychologically fragile mother-to-be Charlotte is taken in by his family – but they seem increasingly obsessed with her every move. Her suspicions grow and panic builds – but just how far will they go in their desire to control her and her unborn baby?
Joe Marcantonio displays real chops in his feature-length debut, the slow-build psychological-horror “Kindred.” Basked in atmospheric shadows, steadily building a suffocating mood, and featuring a stellar central performance, it has all the signs of an auteur-in-the-making. He’s still got some ways to go — the film could’ve used a little trimming and contains a few plot holes — but don’t let the blemishes stop you from enjoying this little gem. Imagine the ambition of “Get Out” meshing with the minimalism of “Misery” and you’ll sort of have an idea of what to expect.
Charlotte (Tamara Lawrance) just found out that she’s pregnant, and she’s not too excited about it. Her boyfriend Ben (Edward Holcroft), however, is ecstatic, concocting an elaborate plan to relocate and start a new life in Australia. They just have to check “saying good-bye to Ben’s mom” off the list. Trouble is, the elderly Margaret (Fiona Shaw) is all sorts of screwed-up. She doesn’t take well to either of the news. “You’re not stealing my own flesh and blood to the other side of the planet,” she spits vehemently. Her loyal servant, an overly-polite young gentleman called Thomas (Jack Lowden) — who MAY also be her child of sorts — may even be more frightening than Margaret in how cordial and quiet he is.
Soon after, Ben dies in a terrible accident. After a surreal and violent hospital confrontation, Charlotte ends up in his family’s extravagant mansion. Seemingly on the verge of dissipating, filled with gargantuan paintings barely hanging on its cracked, peeling walls, the estate gradually begins to proverbially swallow Charlotte. Her house — or rather, Ben’s house, as Margaret constantly reiterates — has allegedly been foreclosed. Thomas took the liberty of moving all of Charlotte’s possessions. Her phone just happens to be broken. Charlotte is trapped. When she begins experiencing time-lapses and terrifying visions, the question is raised: Has Charlotte inherited her mother’s “condition” and gone mad, or are the two psychos keeping her an acquiescent prisoner by spiking her water with drugs? Or both?
Marcantonio keeps things tantalizingly ambivalent until the final frame. He’s not above utilizing a stylistic flourish or two — crows are featured prominently in flashy interludes (as are quiches and horses, don’t ask), symbolizing transformation and change and death. What’s more impressive is the filmmaker’s adeptness with the more nuanced sequences. Charlotte urgently shares her fears with a nurse at a hospital. Margaret shares a memory with Charlotte in an unexpectedly lyrical moment. There’s an edge-of-your-seat escape, a little piano duet, and a backyard funeral. Marcantonio knows when to accelerate and when to press the brakes.
What this film really has going for it is a breakout performance from the wonderful Tamara Lawrance, who conveys every human emotion here: from being stricken with grief, to disillusionment, to love and fear – and on this list goes. Fiona Shaw is splendid, emanating malevolence and a buried sadness. Jack Lowden, who also produces, is creepily detached, providing glimpses of humanity here and there, but never really letting us — or Charlotte — in. It’s another terrific performance from the young actor.
I compared “Kindred” to Jordan Peele’s box-office smash/critical darling but it’s actually more subdued than “Get Out.” No one’s ethnicity is mentioned; race is never discussed. However, the fact that Charlotte is Black, and there is palpable tension between her and Margaret from the first minute, and then she is being trapped and drugged by two privileged white people to birth them a child, and no one, not even her best friend Jane (Chloe Pirrie) believes her, certainly speaks volumes. A dark study of familial bonds and obligations and codependence, “Kindred” avoids the polemic realms.
Too bad the illogical points are so difficult to overlook. If you get past the whole “why doesn’t she just bail” thing, her pregnancy progression makes little sense, continuity-wise. She literally becomes visibly pregnant days after discovering that she’s pregnant. Then her belly seems to double days after. Perhaps I missed something, or the film is playing with time and our/Charlotte’s perception of it, trapped in that house, but it threw me off. Other questions arise: When Charlotte is told of her home’s foreclosure, why doesn’t she instantly go to check for herself? If her phone is broken, is there no way to get a new one in 2020? Can one really inconspicuously steal keys off a shelf from someone who JUST put them there and is RIGHT there in front of you? Am I being too much of a dick to this film? (The last answer is a definite ‘yes’).
Don’t come looking for shocks and scares. “Kindred” is atmospheric, “get-under-your-skin” horror. Joe Marcantonio may not yet gain the status of Jordan Peele or Rob Reiner, but he’s got the chops to consider them (dear lord, I’m doing this) kindred spirits.
In Select Theaters, on Digital Platforms, and on VOD Friday, November 6th
