Strictly average movie

Good start, but then it gets ruined

good back-story, and good acting

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

This film is about missing people. While there are several plausible explanations for most disappearances, there are a few that just sound too unnatural... So, what if some evil force is stalking, hiding itself where we can't look, like just behind the corners? And what a better corner is there to hide than on the edges of our limited three-dimensions (or four, if one wants to count in the time)? This is not a new story, with examples coming from the Asian dream-eaters to H.P. Lovecraft's inter-dimensional terrors and the contemporary cenobites, but amazingly, there are not many good pieces exploring this subject, at least, not on the horror shelves. There are many fantasies, like "Labyrinth" and "The NeverEnding Story", comedies, like "Ghostbusters" and "Beetlejuice", science fictions, like "Doctor Who" series and "Event Horizon", and even some thriller/dramas, like "The Adjustment Bureau". On the horror genre, there are films like "Phantasm" and "Poltergeist", the latter actually more entertaining than scaring, and a lot of not so successful ones, like the "Hellraiser" series, which carry some good new ideas, but doesn't manage to "raise hell".In "Absentia", the actors start cold, the first lines sounding very rehearsed and unconvincing, like people on reality shows pretending there are no cameras on them. As the film goes on, though, they gear up to a more steady pace.Shot using photographic cameras 5D Mark II and EOS Rebel T2i, "Absentia" isn't the kind of film meant to jump scare (although there are some), it's more on the psychological build up, what it does well. The short depth-of-field given by the cameras intensify the dramatic visions of "evil". The plot could be more elaborated, having a lot of drama filling in-between action scenes, making it less enjoyable for those looking for more scares.

It's unusual to see a horror/supernatural movie that isn't packed full of clichés, but Absentia makes a good attempt to be something a little different. The plot is simple enough: a woman has her husband declared legally dead after an unexplained absence of seven years, but then he mysteriously reappears, apparently with little memory of events. Unfortunately, he seems to have brought something nasty back with him.What makes the movie different, is that the 'nasty' -- whatever it is -- is seldom apparent. We get just the occasional glimpse. It seems to be associated with a spooky tunnel, but in ways that never become clear. In fact, at the risk of being a spoiler, I think I've just summarized the entire movie.This isn't an action movie, and it has few outright scary moments. Very little happens that is out of the ordinary -- most of the story focuses on the odd, rather strained relationships between the central characters, all of whom have things to hide and may -- or may not -- know more about events than they let on.From start to finish there is an atmosphere of brooding menace, which becomes increasingly intense as the story unfolds. Everybody is scared of something, although it is never made particularly explicit whether the nasty thing actually exists in objective terms, or is just a figment of one or other characters' overwrought imagination.Unlike many modern horror movies, this one does actually have a proper ending; that is, events come to a clear conclusion. It's not a conclusion that makes a whole heap of sense, in narrative terms, but at least I didn't get the impression that the film-makers just carried on until they had enough stuff for a movie, and then went home.All in all, one of the best horror/supernatural movies I've seen for a long time.

I'm sorry but I can not wrap my head around it that there are people out there who actually enjoyed this movie. I have watched a lot of horror movies and have encountered quite some bad ones and this is one of the worst I've seen. The extremely annoying music with the bad acting and god awful story line mix together to make one of the most boring horror movies out there. Two sisters near a tunnel where people are going missing, mixed with awful camera work... There's not much more you need to know about this. If you in any way value your time, do yourself a favor and avoid this movie. If I could give a negative rating, I would.

Written and directed by Mike Flanagan, Absentia finds Tricia (Courtney Bell) and Callie (Katie Parker) as two sisters who come to believe that the underpass nearby could be linked to the many disappearances in the area.A slow burn indie horror is not everybody's idea of a good time, but Flanagan has crafted a smart atmospheric chiller, one with a nifty fairy tale fantasy bubbling away under the surface. Narratively it's low-key, though the air of grief and terror is palpable. The setting is a low rent area of Los Angeles, a place where the girls are told to always keep the doors locked, with the ominous underpass haunting the edges of every other frame.Flanagan filters his story through the urban locale while populating it with characters who are haunted by something unseen, or by others who are troubled by personal issues (Tricia's husband disappeared 7 years ago and Callie is fighting a needle habit). The formula scares are kept to a minimum, Flanagan choosing to imbue the story with a sense of dread, toying with the sisters and us the viewers that there just may be something truly awful lurking just out of the eye line.This is not a creature feature, like The Relic or Mimic, this is a different horror film to those. The horrors are born out of what you don't see, or what you barely glimpse, just like the classic horrors of yesteryear, with Flanagan cheekily dangling ambiguity into the bargain. It's unnerving and sad, creepy yet cunning, and a refreshing experience for those tired of big effects driven horror movies. If you like the slow burn less is more approach, with well written human drama in the bargain? Then give this a chance. 8/10