Horror Pick: Resolution (2012)
Filmmakers Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead’s breakout “horror” film Resolution is a definitive masterclass in independent cinema. Filming on a shoestring budget, what these two talents are able to established based on ambitious storytelling trounces anything I’ve seen in mainstream horror in the last few years, sending a strong message to studios who continue neutering the horror genre. Unlike my usual picks, Resolution doesn’t have any righteous gore, serial killers, or sexy teens, but deserves a watch just like Cabin In The Woods or Re-Animator does for other, more ingenious reasons.
Starting off as a buddy drama, Michael Danube (Peter Cilella) wants to save his drug addicted best friend Chris Daniels (Vinny Curran) from going completely insane, so he forces a cold-turkey cleansing by essentially locking him up in the middle of nowhere. This is where Resolution takes form, as Michael and Chris start to believe someone – or something – is watching their every move, toying with their mental well-being. Recordings and cameras start capture their actions in real-time, playing conversations and arguments back, but who is watching the two friends? Big brother? Backwoods drug dealers?
Admittedly, there’s a whole lot going on here that might not be everyone’s cup of tea. Ambition is one thing, but not everyone will be able to wrap their minds around a curiously meta story that breaks reality’s fourth wall – or they might not want to. Resolution is slow-burn by nature, expanding upon a growing paranoia in the viewer, but if you need numerous death scenes and flashy naked chicks, Benson and Moorhead’s more refined psychological horror probably won’t strike fear or create excitement.
On the flip side, Resolution does something amazing by making viewers their own character. It’s as if you’re watching a story play out while something bigger manipulates your mind, exactly how our main characters in the film itself feel. As I watched Resolution in bed with all the lights off, I couldn’t help but feel as if eyes were peering at me from a closet door only opened a sliver, or that an unknown body was waiting under my bed for slumber to incapacitate me.
Resolution isn’t a movie – it’s an experience. Take a chance on some truly tantalizing indie horror, I promise the payoff is there.