It can be argued that film doesn’t work for someone not because of what it’s about, but how it’s done. Familiar, and even cliched features can receive imaginative and effective treatment that provoke emotions in people and draw us closer to the characters. The Daemon features many familiar tropes, but uses them in a way that, while not original, are certainly engaging and unsettling.
The themes of The Daemon include family, grief and trauma (much like The Babadook, Hereditary and The Night House), and these are apparent from the opening scenes where we’re introduced to Elliott (Nick Searcy), who’s writing a letter while experiencing some vivid and grotesque hallucinations. A subsequent notification to Elliott’s son Tom (Tyler Q Rosen), sets up the themes of family and grief , and Tom’s trauma becomes apparent as the film progresses – not that the film is all about him. Our true protagonist and anchor character is Jess (Adriana Isabel), a therapist and meditation guide whose encounter with parolee client Mani (Mario Daggett), triggers her own trauma. Her partner Mark (Oscar Wilson), is of little help, and the arrival of Mark’s sister and Tom’s wife Kathy (Sara Fletcher), announcing the disappearance of Tom, sets the rest of the film’s events in motion.
It’s to the credit of writers and directors Matt Devino and David Michael Yohe that they imply more than they reveal. Tom clearly has unresolved trauma that’s closely tied to his family’s lake house, where we see Elliott writing a letter that draws Tom back and, in his wake, Jess, Mark and Kathy. Motivations are also apparent, with Kathy wanting to reconnect with Tom, Jess having a strong and genuine desire to help, and Mark going along (albeit grudgingly), to support them both. The isolated location of a lake house is a genre trope that the film acknowledges (horror fans will appreciate the reference to Friday The 13th), but it also facilitates minimal cell phone coverage so they can’t call for help (you should also check out Chekhov’s pulley system).
Faces prove a major source of horror as the film progresses, with the visages giving way to something different and grotesque, the sense of the uncanny continuing with sudden movements that appear wrong, and thus distort perception – which is further disrupted by cosmic sights that mesmerise and rob one of a sense of time.
The justification for the characters’ location is that it facilitates the setting and the tensions between them. Despite abandoning Kathy, Tom is abrasive and aloof – which Rosen conveys through stern stances and gruff tones. Kathy’s concern for her husband is tinged with guilt, Fletcher portraying a character who’s far from a simpering wife, and almost aggravating in her own way. Jess’ compassion comes across as genuine, thanks to Isabel expressing vulnerability through sometimes halting tones and her slight figure. Mark is the least sympathetic character who’s immediately presented as a “money bro” type that barks at his employees while practicing rock climbing in his garage, but Wilson nonetheless presents a human and recognisable character – though we might wish or be grateful that we do not know people like this.
What makes the drama work is that these four figures are distinct and different, rather than a group of cookie-cutter identikit figures, and as a result, their relationship with each other and their environment allow for some creepy set pieces – all related to the undisclosed ‘it’ that Tom repeatedly refers to. A scene around a bonfire has them interacting drunkenly, but also ominously thanks to the cinematography, and it’s here, as well as at other points, that director of photography J. R. Kraus employs vignette shots. The corners of the frame turning black during the bonfire scene makes the light of the fire less significant and comforting in the surrounding darkness. There are also some striking subjective shots where the camera pans through 360 degrees from one character’s perspective, highlighting the unmoving faces staring back in a way that’s unsettlingly uncanny.
Faces prove a major source of horror as the film progresses, with the visages giving way to something different and grotesque, the sense of the uncanny continuing with sudden movements that appear wrong, and thus distort perception – which is further disrupted by cosmic sights that mesmerise and rob one of a sense of time. The location is atmospheric and eerie, the forest around the lake being at certain times a pleasant place for a walk, but at others a space of malevolence and dangerous encounters. The lake itself is always there, its vast and unknowable depths a constant presence that continually changes, with aerial shots of the waves breaking against the shore suggesting something more oceanic – Lake Michigan doing a fine job in its supporting performance.
Within this increasingly menacing atmosphere there are jump scares, as well as gruesome instances of body horror involving entrails, suffocation and dismemberment, but perhaps the film’s greatest strength is its ambiguity, with both the characters and the viewer often being uncertain whether what they encounter is genuine or illusory. The final moments of the film perhaps clarify too much, but they also carry the conceit through to a logical conclusion, making for some spectacular and overwhelming visuals. The Daemon is a great demonstration of drawing an audience in with tried and trusted tropes thanks to its evocative visuals, varied cast and commitment to its premise.
THE DAEMON had its World Premiere at Frightfest 2024
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