Watch closely. Things aren’t quite what they seem.
That’s one of the ideas behind The Unseen as one young lawyer, Tommy Olson (RJ Mitte, Breaking Bad) begins his career investigating unsolved cases. His unique insight - being a survivor of the deadly accident at the center of this film - leads to unexpected places, involving the supernatural as this psychological thriller from Lakefront Pictures and Gravitas Ventures takes viewers on a journey through a series of murders which have more to do with Tommy’s family than he’s aware of.
Damn those shadows!
Written by Jennifer A. Goodman and directed by Vincent Shade, Tommy has cerebral palsy, but this film doesn’t make that the focus here as he tries and tries to forge his own way forward, free from his father, Dan Olson (William Mark McCullough), a very influential lawyer in the community. His rule is with an iron hand and it shows in his family’s dysfunction: Merideth (Sue Cremin), daughters Kali (Ava Bianchi) and Lindsay (Jennifer A. Goodman), and then there is Tommy, wrestling with his own mental health.
Tommy wants to break free. It won’t be easy; however, especially when he accepts a position from a law firm not endorsed by his tyrannical father, who has also been berating him at school.
But that’s why Tommy goes with the firm Kristen Jude (Candice Rose) runs. She’s passionate about the job and quickly has Tommy doing some research on some cold cases that, as he discovers, lead back to his own past. With help from Olivia (Kimberly Michelle Vaughn), Tommy discovers a dark and unsettling truth about these cold cases . . .
. . . and they have something to do with him.
The Unseen is a low budget affair and it often explains more than it has to, especially when the mystery deepens and our protagonist experiences some blackouts, waking up completely mussed up. Yet, Shade - in his feature-length debut - gives the audience a lot of genre-specific moments with which to bathe in. They work to deepen the blood-soaked mystery. The psychological aspect is tuned-in nicely and so too are the moments where the drama in the family is about to break them all.
The Unseen is available on Apple, Amazon or other VOD services.
MPAA Rating: Unrated.
Runtime: 110 mins
Director: Vincent Shade
Writer: Jennifer A. Goodman
Cast: RJ Mitte; Christian Stolte; William Mark McCullough
Genre: Horror
Tagline: Seeing is Deceiving.
Memorable Movie Quote:
Distributor: Gravitas Ventures
Official Site:
Release Date: June 30, 2023
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
Synopsis: A law student finds himself in a twisted web of murder and deceit brought on by a dark force from his past.
