“Resurrection” is a small film coming out in the middle of the summer. Usually, films like this get swallowed up by the bigger blockbusters and are quickly forgotten. I really hope that does not happen here because Rebecca Hall’s acting is outstanding and should be remembered when award season rolls around. Directors sometimes put a camera right in front of an actor’s face and that actor must really bring it home in those moments, as every little facial expression can be seen. Hall has a one-take monologue scene, the kind that actors ache to deliver, and she knocks it out of the park.

I am a fan of the horror genre, so imagine my delight to discover “Resurrection” fit that category. However, this is not some slasher picture. This is the rare physiological horror movie. There are some blood and guts too, but most of the terror is from the trauma Margaret experiences. Tim Roth gives a pretty darn good performance himself and proves to be a wonderful adversary. He never oversells what his character.

This is not to say the movie is perfect. It keeps a good pace at first but can’t maintain it throughout. I almost feel that when writer/director Andrew Semans was putting this on paper, his fingers were just flying through it for a while then slowed down halfway through. I must also admit that I did not understand the ending. I know there is a deeper meaning to it, and I would love to read about it, because it did not make sense to me. Usually something like that would upset me, but given the journey we make through “Resurrection”, I was okay not totally “getting it” in the end.

3 swords