‘Are You There?’ Review: A Muddled Supernatural Horror Film with an Identity Crisis
I like the freedom that supernatural horror affords filmmakers. When we’re dealing with the spirit realm, there are far fewer rules. That allows the creative team behind a picture the chance to take the narrative to shocking and unexpected places. Kim Noonan’s Are You There? squanders that potential. The film starts as a formulaic supernatural horror picture that rarely veers outside the bounds of predictability. From there the picture eventually shifts gears in service of a tired twist we’ve seen too many times before. The end result feels like two unrelated films fused together.
The setup for Are You There? goes as follows:
Parapsychology student Rosa (Laura Sollet) receives a package and a note from her late grandmother with an archaic conjuring device (with far less functionality than an Ouija board) and instructions on how to contact the other side. Predictably, Rosa’s attempts to meddle in the affairs of the dead are met with damning consequences. Rosa’s mental health quickly begins to unravel, leaving her particularly vulnerable to the evil forces afoot.
The device Rosa’s grandmother leaves her requires that she light a candle in the apparatus, say the name of the spirit with whom she is trying to make contact, and then say the words, “Are you there?” The spirit can reply by guiding the candle’s flame toward the words ‘yes’ or ‘no’. The summoning process calls to mind a cut-rate riff on Talk to Me.
Too many tired tropes, and not enough ingenuity.
Are You There? delivers little in the way of surprise. It is formulaic from start to finish. The first two acts follow the standard supernatural horror template with very little deviation. The third act subsequently apes the twist ending from at least half a dozen previous efforts. The end result is a disjointed and frustrating mess.
Are You There? raised my ire by deliberately withholding key information to preserve the narrative twist. That’s fine if it’s done the right way. Most films with a twist ending throttle the flow of information. The problem I have here is that we’re introduced to characters whose names and functions we don’t learn solely for the sake of preserving the surprise. I consider that sloppy filmmaking.
Further alienating is the lack of a dynamic lead. We know almost nothing about Rosa, our leading lady. That is also in service of keeping the viewer in the dark. However, the unintentional consequence is that we have little reason to care about the film’s primary character.
Attempts at commentary only muddle the presentation.
There’s a level of commentary attached to Rosa’s unwillingness to be vulnerable. The message is that she cannot heal until she faces her inner darkness. That’s a valid comment on mental health. However, the way that piece is presented keeps the viewer from connecting with Rosa. Once again, it feels as if competing priorities keep the picture from working on the most basic of levels.
Further, the messaging is often unclear. The takeaway seems to be that we have the power to carve out our own path and battle our inner demons to become the most self-actualized version of ourselves. However, the narrative doesn’t mirror that sentiment effectively enough to drive the message home. Accordingly, the attempts at commentary come off as wishy-washy and muddled.
Equally infuriating is the trite dialogue. Screenwriters Brian S. Tedeschi and Vicki Vass’ attempts to script clever banter and in-jokes between friends frequently fall flat. That is only amplified more by the challenging performances of the lead characters. Laura Sollet’s Rosa never reaches the point of feeling like a real person. When the script and lead characters can’t pull us into the narrative, the audience is left with little to do, aside from fixating on the film’s flaws.
All in all:
There are the makings of a good story somewhere within. However, the screenwriters did the audience a disservice by neglecting to challenge convention and frequently forgetting to put the integrity of the story ahead of all else.
If you are curious to check the film out, Are You There? is available in select theaters and on VOD from Dark Sky beginning February 7, 2025.
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‘Are You There?’
Summary
Kim Noonan’s supernatural horror film is unoriginal and lacks a compelling protagonist.
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