‘Went Up The Hill’: Thessaloniki Review

Dir: Samuel Van Grinsven. New Zealand/Australia. 2024. 100mins

A moody and sombre ghost story about grief, management and letting go of poisonous relationships, Samuel Van Grinsven’s atmospheric comply with as much as 2019 coming-of-age story Sequin In A Blue Room performs like a dark-hearted cousin of All Of Us Strangers. Like Andrew Haigh’s movie, Went Up The Hill revolves across the emotional resonance between the characters moderately than conventional ghost or horror movie mechanics. That to not say that Grinsven’s movie is just not tense or disturbing, though he takes his time attending to that.

Van Grinsven grips the temper so tightly it feels virtually bruising

Went Up The Hill premiered in Toronto and is making its European bow in Thessaloniki’s Worldwide Competitors. It will likely be distributed in Australia and New Zealand by Vendetta Movies. The presence of Cannes-winner Vicky Krieps and Stranger Issues star Dacre Montgomery – wanting one million miles away from that present’s moustachioed and mulleted Billy Hargrove – together with its restrained however finally rewarding chills, means different territories are more likely to comply with swimsuit. 

Jack (Montgomery) and Jill (Krieps) would possibly, because the title suggests, sound just like the nursery rhyme pair however they’re, in truth, strangers, related solely by a demise. Jill is mourning the lack of her spouse Elizabeth, when the useless girl’s estranged son Jack arrives on the wake in rural New Zealand claiming to have been invited by Jill – though it quickly seems she was beforehand unaware of his existence. The response of Elizabeth’s sister Helen (Sarah Peirse) is one other indication that one thing is just not fairly proper.

As Jack and Jill cautiously attempt to join, dusk brings a 3rd entity into the equation. Elizabeth is again, possessing every of the pair in flip – although, within the morning, whereas every remembers talking to the useless girl, neither can recall being her mouthpiece.

The swap is achieved by efficiency moderately than particular results, with Krieps and Montgomery modifying each their bodily actions and supply to one thing simply fractionally extra gruff and fewer emotional and, because the story progresses, extra harmful. Van Grinsven grips the temper so tightly it feels virtually bruising; an acceptable sensation for what we are going to quickly study Elizabeth’s perspective to others. It’s winter and the fashionable residence Jill shared along with her spouse, with its huge home windows and clear traces, has an austere really feel that’s heightened by the chilly winter mild.

The concept of possession is double-fold. Elizabeth doesn’t simply wish to take over the physique of every particular person individually, however to additionally management the opposite when she is in that type. Initially these visitations appear as if they could provide closure for the residing, as Jack is attempting to get well a misplaced reminiscence from childhood whereas Jill is grappling with the circumstances surrounding Elizabeth’s demise. As one other a lot much less altruistic agenda emerges, issues take a carnal flip – shot with a swish, sculptural precision by cinematographer Tyson Perkins, who deftly employs mild and shade to intensify the characters’ sense of isolation. It proves doubly unsettling as each Jack and Jill are homosexual, and underlines the energy of the useless girl’s spirit.

The restrained method from Van Grinsven – reteaming for the script with Sequin collaborator Jory Anast – helps mitigate the movie’s ultimate third, when a number of acquainted horror beats start to make their presence felt. The measured sound design and scoring even have a slow-build energy. The home has the creak and groan of an outdated ship, and a lilting piano theme from Hanan Townshend is counterpointed with breathy, unpredictable hums and vocalisations when Elizabeth enters the ambiance.

Longing proves a strong drive for each the residing and the useless and, as Elizabeth more and more exerts her grip, it turns into not a lot about whether or not Jack and Jill can let go however whether or not they can take again management. No such issues for Van Grinsven, who steers strongly from first to final.