Movie Review (NOLA Horror Film Fest): The Unfamiliar
U.K. chiller The Unfamiliar treads some recognizable ground but balances that out by placing its characters in an unusual setting, that being in the world of the Hawaiian occult. Military doctor Elizabeth “Izzy” Cormack (Jemima West) has just returned from a tour of duty during which she was forced into combat. She is having a difficult time reconnecting with her distant teenage stepdaughter Emma (Rebecca Hanssen), preteen son Tommy (Harry McMillan-Hunt), her professor/writer husband Ethan (Christopher Dane), and their baby Lilly (Beatrice Woolrych). To make matters worse, Izzy starts seeing and being part of weird occurrences, and when she tries to record these events as proof that they aren’t part of her PTSD, naturally there is no video evidence. Meanwhile, Ethan oddly wants to abandon his recent book research about the myths and customs — some of them dealing with the occult — of Hawaii in favor of writing children’s books. Tommy is acting strangely, including performing Hawaiian supernatural rituals.
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