The Visitor is about married couple Robert (Finn Jones, Iron Fist) and Maia (Jessica McNamee, 2021’s Mortal Kombat) who have relocated from London to Maia’s childhood home. As they are fixing their new home, Robert finds an old painting of a man that looks just like him. As he tries to figure out the history behind the portrait, he uncovers terrible secrets that will change his life forever.
The film is well paced. There are enough jump scares to keep audiences on edge without overdoing it. This is a wise decision since the story is creepy enough without loud noises and sudden bumps. The fear in The Visitor comes from the characters and the situations Robert and Maia find themselves in. Director Justin P. Lange builds on each of these moments instead of having singular frights that come and go.
The Visitor is an atmospheric tale in which nobody can be trusted. The film introduces a few characters in order to help audiences feel the same paranoia that Robert does. It would be fair to say that the first half is more of a mystery than an actual horror movie. Then with just one little detail, things take a drastic turn. It is still unclear exactly what is going on, but is definitely sinister.
The script does a great job of keeping things streamlined. Things move in a logical direction with each event adding to the story. There is a steady escalation leading to some graphic scenes of violence. The Visitor also has some excellent imagery that adds to the foreboding feeling. There are lots of reveals in a short period of time – one of which is particularly disgusting – but the entire watch is an entertaining one.
The Visitor come to On Demand and digital October 7
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