The Redeeming is a horror/suspense/psychological thriller that is the feature-length directorial debut from director Brian Barnes. The film was written by Roger Thomas, and Barnes and Thomas had previously also worked together on a TV series called Persona as writer and director. They did a great job combining their efforts for this film.
The film starts off with a woman named Joyce (Tracey Ann Wood) looking out at the ocean. She then returns home, and after losing her electricity has a visitor knocking at the door (Ryan Wichert) who says he is injured and needs help. She reluctantly lets him inside. Joyce decides to take a look at her visitor’s arm and reveals to him that she used to work with nurses. As there is a terrible storm outside, she invites him to stay for the evening so that he can keep out of the storm and his arm can heal. He later tells her his name is John.
The characters are complex and have an element of mystery about them right from the beginning. Several times throughout the film, there were so many questions to be answered, and it adds to the tension. As the film progresses Joyce begins to exhibit some odd behavior during their conversations and is hearing voices and seeing flashbacks from time to time. Joyce becomes more unpredictable as the film goes on, and it keeps you guessing when it comes to what is going to happen next. You find that John has some secrets of his own as well. You do eventually get a better understanding of Joyce’s character and why she is the way she is as the story unfolds, and the ending ties the rest of the film together nicely.
While only having two actors throughout most of the film, and being shot at one location in a house, the story for this film is interesting and well-written. There is some good dialogue between the characters, which is crucial in a film like this that depends heavily on it, and Tracey Ann Wood really shines here. When it comes to production, the cinematography, lighting, and sound department did an awesome job. The ambient sound and score were just right, and the camera shots and lighting really set the tone. The cast and crew were temporarily living in the house where the film was shot, where the area was actually experiencing the worst flooding in 50 years because of the weather, and their travel outside was restricted. Having that authenticity of the surroundings probably helped a lot. Some scenes were even shot by candlelight, which definitely adds to the moody atmosphere of being isolated in a house during a storm.
To summarize, The Redeeming pulled off slow-burn horror/psychological thriller amazingly, and while it has more suspense than horror overall, it does a fantastic job of keeping you intrigued with the story and where it’s going. Tracey Ann Wood was brilliant in this, and Ryan Wichert did a great job as well. We would definitely recommend this to any fan of horror/suspense.
The Redeeming WORLD PREMIERE is screening at the Horror-on-Sea Film Festival in Southend, Essex, UK at 2.30pm on 28th January 2018. See this link for details: https://www.horror-on-sea.com/sunday-28th-january
After the screening in January, The Redeeming will be available to stream on iTunes, Google Play, Amazon Instant Video, and other platforms to follow, In the meantime, keep up with them on their website, and give them a follow on facebook and twitter at the links below:
Website: http://www.theredeeming.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/TheRedeeming
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheRedeeming
