The Lodge: Thoroughly Unnerving Horror Upends Horror Genre at Every Turn

By Thom Ernst

Rating: A-

In even the most distressing horror films there is liable to be some comfort in knowing what unsettling sub-genre we’re getting ourselves into. It’s unnerving waiting for the vampire, zombie, serial killer, psychopath, ghost or demon to jump on screen, but at least if we understand the premise, we can be consoled by knowing what it is unnerving us.

But expectations aren’t easily earned in The Lodge. At any twist or turn—of which The Lodge has a few—the story could unfold as a psychological thriller, a haunted-house horror (haunted lodge, if you prefer) or a survivalist horror; there’s significant evidence to suppose it could be any of these or none of these or all of these.

Filmmakers Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala (Goodnight Mommy), open the film with an ominous tour through the static rooms of a house so void of life that there hardly seems a reason for it to exist. All the while a soundtrack plays above the silence like an assault from an obscene intruder. Tensions then shift towards a more personal horror amplifying the distress of a domestic breakdown, only to side-step the tragic fallout from that ordeal into the mystery of an aberrant family legacy. Still, the film holds back on its intent furthering the stakes when stranding its characters in a remote, snowbound lodge.

The Lodge has echoes of gothic-horror drawn from a surfeit of films like The Innocents (1961), The Nightcomers (1971), Night Watch (1973), Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte (1964), Images (1972), The Others (2001), and The Shining (1980) although these films work better as atmospheric clues to the story rather than outright references. (An argument can even be made for 1982’s The Thing, had the filmmakers not already spoon-fed the allusion for us). But despite the film’s varied possibilities, The Lodge does not suffer from an identity crisis. It is aware of what it is and what it's doing, even when choosing to leave viewers in the cold.

Richard (Richard Armitage) and Laura (Alicia Silverstone) are separated, dividing their time with their children, Aiden (Jaeden Martell) and Mia (Lia McHugh). Laura pines for a reconciliation, although she is only able to admit this to her mirror, while Richard is anxious to move on so he can be free to marry Grace (Riley Keough).

The story fluctuates somewhat in the first act before finding a character to fixate on in the second. But even as the film edges towards a more structured narrative, there is an emotional terror, fueled by trauma and religious belief. Eventually, the story settles on a stepparent narrative when Grace is left alone at the remote family lodge with the children—at Christmas, no less.

Grace makes what appears to be honest attempts to forge a relationship despite the children’s determined efforts to remain unforgiving. But Aiden’s and Mia’s apprehensions about being stranded with Grace should not be easily dismissed, given the knowledge they have of their stepmom’s nightmarish past.

Much can be said of the two young leads whose roles require them to work through the strains of compassion, fear, and anger. McHugh as Mia gives a profound glimpse of a little girl tormented by an inconsolable loss while Martell, who we recently saw as Jacob Thrombey, one of the suspects in the mystery-comedy Knives Out, maneuvers Aiden beyond the tropes of stepchild angst. But the film’s heavy work rests on the shoulders of Keough.

By the time Grace arrives in the second act, she is as much an intruder to the story as she is an intruder in the children’s lives. It’s not just the children’s trust Grace needs to inspire, but the trust of the audience. Keough wires Grace with seemingly accurate credibility, insomuch as I’m capable of understanding what it’s like to be a stepmom. Keough’s Grace elicits confidence as well as suspicion; she’s equally adept at summoning resolutions as she is at running head-first into ruin.

The Lodge is likely to be categorized as a slow burn, a term often used to describe a film that reserves its payoff until the end. Certainly, the movie waits until the end for its ultimate payoff, but there is far more to the film than just its ending. The Lodge is relentlessly menacing. There is no question that The Lodge is a horror film, but it’s a horror film that steps far enough outside of expectations to exist as something deeper than its genre allows.

The Lodge. Directed By Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala. Starring Riley Keough, Jaeden Martell, Lia McHugh, Alicia Silverstone, and Richard Armitage. Opens February 21 at Toronto’s Carlton Cinema and Edmonton’s Metro Cinema; February 28 at Montreal’s Cinema du Parc and Kingston’s The Screening Room; March 6 at Ottawa’s Mayfair Theatre and Kitchener’s Apollo Cinema; and March 7 at Vancouver’s Rio Theatre.