Synopsis: The daughter of Keira Woods inexplicably vanishes in the cellar of their new home. She quickly realizes there is an ancient and strong entity controlling their home that she will have to face or risk losing her family’s souls forever. Brendan Muldowney’s (Love Eternal, Pilgrimage) latest feature has remarkable tonal control and aesthetic confidence, but neither it nor Elisha Cuthbert’s compelling lead performance can completely overcome The Cellar’s weary, po-faced avalanche of genre cliches.
The Woods family — mother Keira (Cuthbert), father Brian (Eoin Macken), son Steven (Dylan Fitzmaurice Brady), and daughter Ellie (Abby Fitz) – move into their new home, a secluded fixer-upper they snagged for a steal at auction. However, Ellie goes missing during a power outage shortly after moving in, and when Keira discovers weird marks inscribed on the walls, among other supposedly paranormal happenings, she believes the home “stole” her daughter.
The Cellar is a fairly listless grab-bag of haunted house tropes, from the cheesy setup of the Woods family buying the house to the authorities of course refusing to believe Keira, an array of metronomic jump scares, trawls through social media, a creepy son, a meeting with a supposed paranormal expert, and most importantly, a lot of Google searches.
Muldowney blasts through these over-the-top genre touchstones like a to-do list, resulting in a product that hardly registers a pulse. Though it deserves some credit for trying something a little different from the typical eerie cellar, the film’s flashes of brilliance are few and far between in a picture that too frequently sticks to the tried and true.
Without going into too much detail, the otherworldly machinations are strangely reliant on mathematical equations of all things, which, while unusual for this type of film, don’t actually add anything to the story.
Excessive exposition turns the mythological speculations into tedious nonsense, while certain later-film insights elicit inadvertent laughter. Even the suspense set-pieces are low-strength until the last ten minutes or so, and while Muldowney’s restrained, often-static shooting is admirable to a point, it becomes too inert for its own benefit.
The staging is fairly standard throughout, and the full-on funhouse material arrives far too late to have much of an impact. Although the occasional flashes of creature effects are effective, neither they nor the solid ending sequence can redeem the film. Despite its short running duration of 94 minutes, this is a slow film with numerous subplots.
The cast especially leads Cuthbert, who anchors the drama brilliantly as a distraught mother wanting to rescue her daughter in the face of an increasingly gloomy circumstance, should sleep easily because they’ve done about as much as they can with the material.
Cliches can be effective tools in the hands of a skilled filmmaker, but Brendan Muldowney’s new picture has a fairly programmatic feel to it. Unfortunately, Elisha Cuthbert’s steadfast dedication isn’t enough to keep this dusty, aggressively generic haunted home thriller from sliding into monotony.
Is “The Cellar” on Hulu?
“The Cellar” will not premiere on Hulu. The best movies from Hulu are Casper, CopyCat.
Is “The Cellar” on Netflix?
“The Cellar “will not release on Netflix. Best options include Big Bug, Home Team.
Is “The Cellar” on HBO Max?
“The Cellar” will not be seen on HBO Max. The best choices are Kin, Krull.
Is “The Cellar” on Prime Video?
“The Cellar” will not be visiting Prime Video. Some best alternatives include: I Want You Back, A Hero.
Where to watch this movie?
On Friday, April 15, 2022, The Cellar will be released (A limited release).