For several years, Naomi’s father Harry has been slowly but steadily losing his battle with an unspecified terminal illness. During that time, his health crisis has defined their family’s existence. They have recently moved back to her mother’s former home to be closer to better doctors. It also means Johanna finally meets her grandfather, Rabbi Samuel, who had a falling out with her mother, which he now deeply regrets.
In sort of an exercise in magical thinking, Johanna latched on to the idea that her birdhouse can house good spirits that will protect her father. Naomi continually discourages what she considers delusional fantasies. Nonetheless, Johanna performs her ritual call to good spirits the night they move in. Unfortunately, she soon suspects an evil spirit answered her summons instead.
Soon, booth her parents go through spells of terrifying out-of-character behavior. Concurrently, Harry’s condition quickly deteriorates. Consequently, Johanna both fears that he could die soon and that he, or more likely her mother, might kill her while under the spirit’s influence.
Obviously, Finkel uses Johanna’s malevolent spirit as a metaphor for the anxiety of long-term catastrophic family illness. Indeed, it was directly inspired by his own childhood experiences. The allegorical aspect is always inescapable. Yet, it is important to stress Finkel still takes care of his horror genre business. There are some very creepy, nerve-jangling scenes.
As it happens, many of them involve Ruth Wilson. Frankly, she probably outdoes her bravura portrayal of Alice Morgan, the chilling sociopath in Luther. Seriously, she has moments that compare favorably to Linda Blair in the original Exorcist.
Family is quite an impressive feature debut for Finkel. It is a very personal work, but genre fans should be thrilled by Wilson’s frequently deranged performance. Highly recommended for audiences of “elevated” horror, Family screens this Friday night (9/25) at the Kent Theater in Brooklyn.
