Directed by Måns Mårlind and Björn Stein, this Swedish movie was released internationally in 2010, but didn’t release in America until 2013. Finding a horror movie with known actresses and actors in it is a huge deal. This movie did not disappoint.

Summary

Forensic psychiatrist Dr. Cara Harding (Julianne Moore) is called in by her father (Jeffrey DeMunn) who is also a psychiatrist to examine a patient with multiple personality disorder (Jonathan Rhys Meyers). The catch? All of his personalities are murder victims, including the son of a mountain woman (Frances Conroy). Legit cast, am I right?

Entertainment Value

• The cast. Not a weak link in the bunch. They sucked me right into the story.
• The mystery. The pacing was so strong that I couldn’t put it all together until the last fifth of the movie.
• The imagery. There are a lot of cool shots in this movie. My favorite is when Cara walks through an open barn, and in the barn there are lines of sheet music hanging, wafting in the breeze. It’s beautiful and spooky at the same time.
• Mountain people! Who doesn’t love a good mountain voodoo granny?

Dark Muse

The main questions raised by this movie revolve around the concept of faith. While there are Christian references, there are also connections to faith in voodoo magic and faith in general. I love this multifaceted acknowledgement of faith, and the questions, when considered from a broad lens, are powerful.

• How does faith protect people from danger?
• Is faith something you can regain once you’ve lost it? How much control do you have over your own ability to believe?
• What makes one person maintain faith in adversity and another abandon it?
• Does faith always trump faithlessness?

Verdict: WATCH