After her success in “American Honey” and “The Girlfriend Experience,” cinemagoers will welcome Riley Keough’s return to their screens with open arms. This time Keough stars in Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz’ grizzly, psychological horror “The Lodge.” Starring alongside Alicia Silverstone and Richard Armitage, Keough’s latest premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year to rave reviews.
Our own Sundance review reads, “’The Lodge’ is a meditative plumbing of the darkest parts of the human psyche, our vulnerabilities, and self-doubts and it’s these personal fears that resonate loudly.”
Here’s the synopsis for the plot from Sundance:
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Devoted to their devastated mother, siblings Aidan and Mia resent Grace, the younger woman their newly separated father plans to marry. They flatly reject Grace’s attempts to bond, and they dig up dirt on her tragic past—but soon they find themselves trapped with her, snowed in in a remote holiday village after their dad heads back to the city for work. Just as relations begin to thaw, strange and frightening events threaten to unearth psychological demons from Grace’s strictly religious childhood.
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An unblinking study of human frailty, The Lodge offers a haunting exploration of the traumatic aftershocks of religious devotion while positing that some evils just don’t die. Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala build an overwhelming disquiet from this visceral and stylish film’s very first scene, before nestling their claustrophobic thriller within a disorientingly endless snow-filled landscape. Riley Keough exudes fragility as well-meaning Grace’s every good intention leads her deeper back toward the hell of her own past, while Jaeden Martell and Lia McHugh do impressive work as the kids’ practiced defiance turns to fear.
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Fiala and Franz received incredible praise for their chilling 2014 Austrian horror “Goodnight Mommy,” the terrifying story of a mother who undergoes cosmetic surgery, only to become unrecognizable to her children. “Goodnight Mommy” was Austria’s foreign language film entry for the Oscars that year, and impressed critics and film lovers alike, so this directorial duo is unlikely to disappoint.
“The Lodge” has no release date yet, but according to Neon films, they’re planning on releasing the film in the fall which is ballsy, considering we have to assume this isn’t a traditional Oscar player. October for Halloween? We shall see. In the meantime, watch the new trailer below.
Update: “The Lodge” now arrives in theaters November 15. New teaser below the current trailer.
