New Zealand / 96 min / 2020
Ellie, pregnant and recently single, returns to her old family home to write a book on occult memory techniques. But her estranged mother is there waiting for her. This family reunion turns dark as manipulations, secrets and lies reveal a forgotten past.
“Reunion is admirably patient: instead of jumpscares, it is more interested in creating an ambience of perverse disquietude: slides of bloody magic rituals, flickering home videos, even brief experimental closeups of internal bodily fluids. These choices initially appear cryptic, but they all come together in the film’s last stretch in a gory, kaleidoscopic spectacle of family trauma. Ormond’s performance is stunning – she has a magnificent line involving boiling a cauliflower – and there are some truly sublime visual moments.” – The Guardian
“This use of cinematography to grapple with the metaphysics of time and personality suggests a natural alliance between film art and metaphysical probing.” – First Things
“…this is a deeply disquieting, uneasy, and uncomfortable movie to deal with – both thematically and tonally – but thanks to the committed performances, fine craftsmanship for a modest budget and unpredictably unnerving final 15 minutes, Reunion is an atmospheric psychological chiller that overcomes its slow start, gets better as it unspools, and erupts with a much welcome onslaught of grisly mayhem in the end.” – JoBlo
“…it went from a subtle 2.5 to a bonkers 11 for the last fifteen minutes. My mouth was agape as there was a major twist to the movie and I watched the utter chaos unfold.” – Nightmarish Conjurings
“The film’s visuals play out like a nightmare and you’re not too sure what you’re watching on screen is real, an hallucination or a flashback, as the film likes to blend the past with present.” – Horror Cult Films
“This is a mature, skillfully made, beautifully shot, edited and designed film that revels in being exactly the old-fashioned horror the poster and the trailer are promising.” – Stuff NZ
“New Zealand director Jake Mahaffy handles time with deft sophistication in this sophisticated psychological horror drama. The past comes around and round again when Ellie revisits the house where she grew up.” – Shepherd Express
“It’s a subtle horror with some very effective scenes that will be permanently etched in my mind due to how disturbing they were. It’s uncomfortable and weird, yet at times it’s also impossible to look away.” – LoveHorror