Abbygail Was Here
2020 · 10m · USA
Directed by Keaton Smith
Tones: contemplative, dark, tense
A young woman is stranded at an abandoned house in a depopulated rural America, hunting for a mysterious object whose meaning keeps slipping away from her. Her mind starts coming apart at roughly the same pace as the surrounding landscape.
Picked by Felix
The scouts
Horror that admits plot is the boring part. Smith trades exposition for atmosphere and I respect the trade.
Keaton Smith withholds the apocalypse and the object simultaneously — It Comes at Night with even more refusal to explain. Atmosphere over plot is a defensible choice when the atmosphere is this thick.
Post-apocalyptic horror that withholds both the apocalypse and the object the protagonist is searching for — Keaton Smith's minimal-plotting, vivid-atmosphere approach is high-risk but the discipline is the point.
Reviews
Enigmatic horror delivered with minimal plotting but vivid atmosphere and creeping tension.