Get rid of whatever doesn’t make you happy. Wise words, but in the context of this movie? WOW!
In what goes down as a very disturbing opening, Woe begins with a solitary man, Charlie (Adam Halferty), clutching a garbage bag which is shaped like a person - a very still person. He holds the garbage bag as if he is giving it one last hug and kiss. The sound of wasps buzzing around the morbid scene is deafening as this low angle shot is framed by random blades of grass.
The opening is cold and foreign and it does everything right as the shadows surrounding the opening form to show a wraith-like entity hanging about. Something beyond the ordinary is being told to us and already we are on the edge of our seats.
Welcome to Woe, a spine tingling tale of deceit as we learn about what eats at Charlie that causes him to stare off into space and soldier on in his father’s house as a “haunted” Crown Victoria maybe holds the answers that might help these two work through the damage that has been done.
Woe is the dark journey into a family of secrets as a brother and sister, who both won’t answer the phone when their mother calls, stumble upon their father’s secret one year after his death. They soon learn that this secret may not be his alone. This is what goes down in Woe, a low budget horror film from Gravitas Ventures and Kamikaze Dogfight.
Starring a very convincing Halferty, complete with scratches on his arms and wild, uncombed hair and the ability to tune out the world around him, and the noncommittal Betty (Jessie Rabideau) as his equally disturbed sister who is set to marry a Park Ranger named Benny (a fun Ryan Kattner), Woe unwinds in a very unsettling fashion as these two characters face some pretty harsh revelations that fall in the year anniversary of their father’s death AND the arrival of their estranged Uncle Pete (James Russo).
This is a unique spin on a horror film as it presents the fragility of a person’s mental health with a creative and thick layer of atmosphere that serves the usual genre well. Except this movie is not so straightforward, making it more of a challenge to mentally figure out. Some people will not like the twisting and tugging of the pull of this movie and some will wish there was more flicks like it.
Regardless of which side you are on, the circumstances in this movie are frightening and obscure and completely frustrating, but they are done so with a sense of purpose. The silence is long and drawn out and the images - as we are dealing with the repercussions of an unexpected death - are real and felt within the performances this movie showcases. Grief and loss and WOE; these are the keys that turn the ignition in their father’s Crown Vic.
Writer/director/editor Matthew Goodhue’s terrifying Woe premieres on DVD and Digital June 15 from Gravitas Ventures and Kamikaze Dogfight. For the patient and visual viewer, enjoy the mysterious ride as you collect the clues along the way.
MPAA Rating: Unrated.
Runtime: 84 mins
Director: Matthew Goodhue
Writer: Matthew Goodhue
Cast: Jerilyn Armstrong, Russell Becker, Adam Halferty
Genre: Horror | Mystery
Tagline: You are not alone.
Memorable Movie Quote:
Theatrical Distributor: Gravitas Ventures
Official Site:
Release Date: September 24, 2020
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
Synopsis: One year after their father’s death, Charlie endlessly repairs the old family house while his sister, Betty, decides to sell their father’s car without her brother’s consent - the same car their father committed suicide in. As the two avoid confronting their prolonged grief, mental health, and each other, a hunchbacked creature shadows their every move. Their estranged Uncle Pete, believed to be dead, claims to have answers - if only Charlie and Betty would get out of their own heads and accept help.
Woe
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