Anything For Jackson | Film Review

 

Today's post is another Shudder Original. This time its in form of 'Anything for Jackson', a film that had an interesting premise because it's a twist on a usual genre. This had really great reviews, so I had high expectations for it.

After the death of their grandson, Henry (Julian Richings) and Audrey Walsh (Sheila McCarthy) try to resurrect him through the unborn baby of a pregnant woman (Konstantina Mantelos).

I have mixed feelings about this film. I love the subversion of the exorcism genre, and I like what they did with it, but overall I didn't love the film.

The opening of the film, though, was great. I loved the way that we are introduced to these characters, and it was also a great way to get into the plot without wading through unnecessary backstory. 

The premise of the film, alongside the reality of Henry and Audrey Walsh, is such an interesting juxtaposition. Put them in any other story and they are the sweet old couple who everyone can't help but love; but here they are the most complex, creepy, weirdly sweet people. I loved the fact that not every villain of a horror movie is just evil through and through. They were such great characters to base this film on.

Another thing I found particularly intriguing was that, if nothing else, this film is a portrayal of grief. Now, this is obviously not how most, if any, people grieve, and the film doesn't try to say that it is, but I still think it was a really intelligent idea to base the movie on their grief and the fact that they would literally do anything to get Jackson back.

This is a horror movie. And while you won't be watching this under covers, completely terrified, some of the scares are done really well. I would have liked to see more scares, but I guess that's just my personal preference of liking more traditional horror tropes. 

Too much time was spent unnecessarily. The things I wanted to see more of were finished too quickly, and the parts that I wasn't interested in seemed to drag on.

Overall, I enjoyed the film, but expected it to be incredible based on the reviews that I saw, and it was just good. Though I definitely want to give it a second watch - maybe I'll change my mind and think it was amazing?

6/10