A psychological horror film about a stepmother trapped in a remote, snowy lodge.
In short: In this 2019 horror film, a woman with a traumatic cult past finds herself stranded with her fiancé's two children during a winter getaway. As unexplained events unfold, the boundaries between reality, grief, and religious delusion blur, leading to a harrowing descent into psychological collapse and isolation.
Directed by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, The Lodge follows Grace, a woman who survived a mass suicide led by her cult-leader father. When her fiancé, Richard, takes his children, Aiden and Mia, to a remote Massachusetts lodge for Christmas, the siblings discover Grace's past. They begin a campaign of psychological warfare, gaslighting her by hiding her belongings and medication while playing recordings of her father's sermons. The children aim to convince Grace that they have all died from carbon monoxide poisoning and are trapped in purgatory.
The production process was as deliberate as the film's atmosphere. To maintain an authentic onscreen dynamic, the directors kept Riley Keough, who plays Grace, separated from the child actors during pre-filming meetings. Conversely, they encouraged Jaeden Martell and Lia McHugh to bond through activities like rock climbing and ice skating. The film was shot in chronological order outside Montreal in 2018, a choice the directors made to help the actors navigate the character's difficult emotional journey. Cinematographer Thimios Bakatakis avoided eye-level shots, instead using high and low angles to evoke the feeling of a haunted house, drawing inspiration from Alfred Hitchcock’s 1940 film, Rebecca.
Upon its release, the film received generally positive reviews, with critics highlighting its atmospheric dread and Keough's performance. While some reviewers felt the narrative logic was secondary to the film's stylish, unsettling tone, others praised its ability to sustain unease. The film concluded its worldwide theatrical run with a total gross of $2,681,784. Ultimately, the story culminates in a grim, tragic finale where Grace, fully consumed by the belief that she is in the afterlife, forces the children to confront the consequences of their cruel deception.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: The Lodge (film)
- Also: The Lodge
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