There is something about the European moors that I am not sure Americans can fully understand. In its way, it’s like the American desert, a vast area where nothing human can really live (easily), which is unforgiving in its nature. What we can’t get is how vast and dangerous the moors are, in ways that the desert may not be. The desert is what it is, it doesn’t conceal its danger. The moor on the other hand can appear tranquil and calm. It lures you in and then the constantly changing weather hits, or you find a spot that isn’t solid that can suck you down into a peat bog. The moor is interesting because as much of a creepy trope as it could be, it’s not often used as more than window dressing. ‘Ooo, beware the mooooooor’ said in a thick Scottish accent. Something the film THE MOOR does better than any film I have ever seen is to make the moor a place of unseen horror, and mystical terror. What it does better than any film I have ever seen is to give life to the place in a way that really sets the film apart.
It’s really a shame though that that’s the best thing the film does.
THE MOOR is a story of loss. A young girl uses her younger friend as a decoy at a convenience store so she can shoplift. Everything goes perfectly until the friend doesn’t return. He has been a victim of a child abductor and is but one of many, a reign of terror that haunts the town where it happens. While the man was caught and incarcerated, the children were never found, and this fact as much as the disappearance, haunts the girl, now a woman, and the area. The woman is haunted by the disappearance of her friend and the guilt that she may have inadvertently put him in harm’s way. She has become a podcaster in the years following and it’s that fact that the boy’s father wants to use, hoping to rekindle interest in the story of the disappearances to try to get new evidence to keep the abductor in prison, despite the end of his sentence approaching. Reluctant to use her platform to tell this story, she agrees to accompany the man out into the moor to look for evidence of the children. It’s been many years but this is thought to be where they were buried and the nature of the moor means that they could still be well preserved. What they find on the moor is that something there doesn’t want to give up its secrets and will do anything to keep them.
This is a beautifully shot film that makes the most of the atmosphere. The scenes on the moor instill a deep sense of dread as you expect something terrible to happen there. The film is well acted, with everyone doing a very nice job of keeping the tone and story rooted and believable without veering too far into the melodramatic.
The problem I had with the film was not the pieces but the whole. It feels like two movies at work here aren’t bridged smoothly.
On the one hand, you have a sad thriller as they try to find the bodies of the missing children and deal with feelings of guilt and blame. The past is as dangerous as the moor and as the woman and the father try to put pieces in place and narrow their search, it only seems as if the moor gets larger and larger.
On the other hand, there is something supernatural on the moor. There is something old and dangerous there that is working to its own ends.
These are both really good concepts but the focus of the film is on the former and not the latter. When things do take their turn, so much ends up happening in the final twenty minutes that it feels rushed and unearned. The end alone has me a bit frustrated as it’s utterly chilling but doesn’t feel like it belongs to the movie we just saw.
YET IT DOES!
Everything fits, and the pieces are all there, this is just a film that has many levels to it and I get it…they just don’t go together well. More time needed to be spent transitioning the film. There are breadcrumbs throughout that lead you to feel uneasy, but as I say, the end feels so sudden that when it happens I was taken aback because it felt like it was from a different cut of the film.
The heck of it is that I am not sure which ‘ending’ I preferred.
I like both.
They both work in their own ways.
Just not…together.
This is a hard review for me because I liked the film. It’s creepy. It’s got tons of suspense and atmosphere. It’s well-made and well-acted. There are some moments when the tone changes that things go on a little too long, but it’s not a huge sin. The problem is that ending.
Maybe it’ll work for you.
It’s…affecting, to be sure.
Phew.
I just wish it worked better for me.
3.5 out of 5
The Spooky World of Chris Ringler 