Tribeca ’26: Recluse

Apparently, weird people have Lawrence Wyatt’s art tattooed on their bodies. His daughter Joan is one of them. Frankly, the sigil on her wrist hardly looks like the rest of his work, which appears to be modeled after Francis Bacon. Regardless, she probably regrets it because she not so secretly blames her father for her mother’s death. Nevertheless, Joan must return to the family’s spooky Berkshires manor after his freak accident, whether she likes it or not, in Henry Chaisson’s Recluse, which screens again tomorrow during this year’s Tribeca Film Festival.

Joan Wyatt still works sporadically on film crews as an audio engineer despite her “troubled” reputation. It all goes back to the tragically macabre death of her little brother during a childhood game of hide and seek. Basically, she should have “seeked” harder. Bad things keep happening to the Wyatts. Her father was the latest victim of the so-called “curse,” when his paints mysteriously ignited. As a result, he now wears a heavy mask of bandages and can barely speak. Supposedly, he must remain confined to bed, but she sometimes thinks she sees him lurking in the shadowy corridors.

Wyatt always knew her family was dysfunctional, but she really gets an earful when she discovers a box of cassettes containing recordings of her parents’ chaos. At times, the recordings seem like ghostly voices that might even have a haunting existence beyond her sound gear.

Indeed, Recluse shares the aesthetic sensibilities of recent horror films like Rabbit Trap, Noise, and Undertone that use carefully “composed” soundscapes to build suspense and generally unsettle viewers. They are sort of anti-ASMR movies. However, Recluse is probably less successful than some of is predecessors in that regard, because of the ambiguity Chaisson tries to maintain.

Chaisson also derives atmosphere and dread from the traditional, but effective old dark house setting. It just radiates dank, rotten corruption. Wyatt’s art, particularly his sculptures, further deepen the macabre vibe.

Fans of 24, Candyman, and The Walking Dead will be disappointed character actor Xander Berkeley probably only appears in the combustible prologue (assuming a body double was subsequently employed for the masked and bedridden Papa Wyatt). However, Toby Poser (of the Adams Filmmaking Family) is appropriately odd, yet intriguingly hard to immediately pigeon-hole as Lydia, the crossbow-toting estate caretaker and Lawrence’s possible accomplice in who knows what.

Sasha Frolova is aptly neurotic as Joan, while Kimball Farley helps keep the film grounded as the Lydia’s underachieving but down-to-earth son, Todd. Mia Vallet helps to further raise the stakes as the nervous new nurse, Emily. Together, the cast is largely successful reinterpreting traditional Daphne Du Maurier-esque Gothic elements for a modern sensibility.

Recluse is a little rough around the edges, but in a way that might appeal to some horror connoisseurs. Chaisson definitely realizes and maintains a sinister, foreboding mood, while the design team creates a very specific sense of place. Recommended as a solid horror film, Recluse screens again tomorrow (6/14) during this year’s Tribeca.