The Vigil (2021), a Psychological Mind Screw from IFC
Released back in 2019 to international audiences, The Vigil is a rarity. I watched it on my laptop with earbuds while my kids did their school-from-home classes in their bedrooms. It’s daytime, my allergies are acting up, and the dogs won’t stop bothering me — yet this movie still managed to scare me.
I don’t know much about Jewish culture beyond what I’ve seen in movies, and most of that is holocaust stuff. Tiny Texas towns don’t have a lot of Jews, at least not those that I’ve lived in, so I found the beginning of The Vigil fascinating. Yakov is a former Orthodox Jew that left his faith when tragedy befell his little brother. He’s a part of a support group for people like him who are becoming part of society outside their faith, while those still a part of the community put pressure on him to rejoin the fold. He’s short on cash and paying for his food, medication, and rent is difficult, so when he’s offered the job of shomer for the night, he can’t help but take it. A shomer is someone that sits and watches the corpse of a recently dead person while reading Psalms in Hebrew. Apparently, in the Jewish faith, this has to be done — usually by the family, but sometimes people are hired. An old man has died, leaving his frail wife behind. She warns Yakov that he shouldn’t stay in the house, but no one ever listens in these movies, do they?
What follows is an excellent buildup of tension. The film’s director, Keith Thomas, did a superb job at playing with all the tropes that viewers expect. That curtain will move, that painting will come to life, something will be in that mirror, the body will move, something is going to jump out….right…now! We all think these things while we watch horror movies, and there is nothing worse than being exactly right every time. Thomas filled the house Yakov is staying in full of possibilities. There could be a jump scare in any number of nooks and crannies, and he lets you imagine each one. When the jumps come, they are timed very well, so that even though I knew they were probably coming, they got me anyway. Like Super Mario 3 or hooking up with a recently divorced woman, it’s all about the timing.
Another aspect of the film that I loved was that it wasn’t overly explained. There is a demon in the film, but it’s motivations, back story, etc are left for me to ascertain on my own. There is enough there to get a good idea of what happened to the dead man and his demon, but no scene that I’m forced to endure overly describing what I already figured out — or worse, don’t care about. The final confrontation with the demon left me feeling a little hollow, but as the film wraps up, I felt much better about it.
I’m really high on this film. I’m not sure if that’s because of the rash of bad movies I’ve been watching lately, but I don’t think so. The Vigil is really good, and I can’t recommend it enough. Coming to the U.S. for the first time from Blumhouse and IFC, you can watch The Vigil February 26th on VOD. Does this sound like something you’d be interested in? Why don’t you tell me in the comments what movies messed with your mind the most?
