#SUNDANCE: “RESURRECTION”

By Mr. Will Wong

Rebecca Hall in recent years has placed herself into some really challenging roles. Her work in unforgettable films like Christine and The Night House for example, with her delving deep into the psyche of her characters and their mental struggles. The Academy Award-nominated Actress/Director once again delivers a powerful display in Sundance selection RESURRECTION, by Director/Writer Andrew Semans.

The Psychological Horror centers on Margaret (Rebecca Hall) who seems to have it all going for her. She is adored and respected at her job, and successful at that, while being a single mother to teen daughter Abbie (Grace Kaufman), who is carving out her own independence. One day at work, her world begins to fall apart when she sees David (Tim Roth) at work, setting off a trail of destruction in her life. Abbie must confront past traumas and finds herself in survival mode as David‘s presence threatens to destroy everything she has built since escaping him.

Semans effectively takes us into Margaret‘s headspace, dulling reality from delusion with plenty a twist and turn. Hall does her best in this space as a bit of an unreliable narrator, but what we do get from her is Margaret‘s truth. If anything can be taken away from the haunting RESURRECTION, it is the crippling aftermath of PTSD and unresolved conflict.

RESURRECTION screens at Sundance as follows:

• JAN. 22  10:00PM EST Available Until Jan. 23 1:00AM EST 
• SECOND SCREENING JAN. 23  10:00AM EST Available Until Jan. 26 10:00AM EST