Directed by Trey Edward Shults (2017)
by Sandy DeVito

I feel like I need to begin this review by noting how often certain kinds of films are being marketed incorrectly these days, specifically genre films. I'm not totally certain as to why this is a recurring issue, but I have a sneaky feeling it's because a bunch of the people making trailers either don't understand genre films, or studios are putting immense pressure on them to adhere to certain parameters. The last time a marketing error as jarring as this one happened, it was for Guillermo del Toro's lavish gothic romance Crimson Peak, which was marketed as straight ghost story/horror film (the studio going so far as to push back its release to October to try to get the Halloween crowd). It ultimately contributed to Peak's lukewarm critical and commercial reception, but Peak is a masterful film in the confines of its genre aspirations. It is a film tailored specifically to a gothic fan's every whim. It is, by the gothic parameters it intended to adhere to in the first place, a complete triumph. But those who are unfamiliar with the gothic genre were doomed to misunderstand its intentions, aided most readily by misguided marketing.