Observance (2015 film)

Scene from Observance (2015 film)...

Summary

"They are watching." A grief-stricken private investigator takes on an unusual assignment and finds himself at the center of a series of dark and unexplained happenings.

Details

• Release Date: 2015
• Country/Language: Australia, English
• Genres/Technical: Horror, Mystery, Thriller, Art/Experimental
• Setting: Modern Australia?
• Runtime: 1 hr 30 min
• Starring: Stephanie King, Lindsay Farris, Brendan Cowell
• Director: Joseph Sims-Dennett
• Writer: Joseph Sims-Dennett, Josh Zammit
• Producer/Production Co: Joseph Sims-Dennett, Josh Zammit, Sterling Cinema
• View Trailer: (link)
• IMDB Page: (link)

Ratings

MPAA Ratings

• Rated: (not rated) (equivalent to an R for Violence, brief Nudity, mild Adult Content, Profanity)

Tentacle Ratings

A rough measure of how "Lovecraftian" the work is:

• S____ (One Tentacle: Debateably Lovecraftian; has almost no direct connection to Lovecraft's work)

Is it all in the viewpoint-character's head, is something supernatural happening, or is it all symbolic? Another of those not-very-Lovecraftian experimental/art/surrealist films where a couple characters are in a weird location where weird, creepy, hallucinatory things happen for reasons that are never really explicitly resolved by the film-makers: an "Eldritch Location" film.

Note: This rating is not intended as a measure of quality, merely of how closely related to Lovecraftian "Weird" fiction the work is.

Reviews

Review Links:

• Daniel Hadley at Addicted to Horror Movies (Link) - (2/5) "Observance is a movie that appears to be grasping for something far greater than the sum of parts, and that greatness is just a little out of reach."
• Review by Ian Jane at Rock! Shock! Pop! (Link) - "This is definitely worth checking out, so long as you’re down with ambiguity!"
• Review by Richard Scheib at The Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Film Review (Link) - (2/5 Stars) "Observance lacks any sense that it is doing unique and groundbreaking things in subverting expectation; it is just a film that exists as a frustrating line of questions without answers."
• Review by Frank Turner at UK Horror Scene (Link) - (6/10) "...It demands the viewer to become immersed in it, succumbing not only to Parker’s mental state but also its arthouse pretensions."
• Review by Andrew L. Urban at Urban Cinefile (Link) - "Largely incoherent, inconsistent and unauthentic, Observance offers such scant characterization in its limited number of protagonists that it becomes a challenge to pay attention."

Synopsis (SPOILERS)

 Spoiler Section (Highlight to Read)

A grief-stricken private investigator takes on an unusual assignment and finds himself at the center of a series of dark and unexplained happenings.

Notes

Associated Mythos Elements

• TO DO
• race: Tentacle Monster is not quite visible on-screen in the black vomit
• race: Ghosts, Ghouls, or hallucinations