A Banquet (2022) – Shudder original spoiler free review

A Banquet it’s a British horror film with one hour and 37 minutes long of running time that follows the story of a woman and her two daughters after the dead/suicide of her husband/dad. The film is a slow burn that relies on the acting rather that other horror elements such as jump scares, scary places, and dark environment.

Widowed mother Holly is radically tested when her teenage daughter Betsey experiences a profound enlightenment and insists that her body is no longer her own, but in service to a higher power. Bound to her newfound faith Betsey refuses to eat, but loses no weight. In an agonizing dilemma torn between love and fear, Holly is forced to confront the boundaries of her own beliefs.

Official plot

Directed by Ruth Paxton the film premiered on the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2021. It had a limited release on the US on February 18, 2022. 

My opinion

The best part of the film is the acting since the actresses playing both the mother and the oldest daughter are able to play perfectly how a good relationship between a mother and a daughter can break. The story it’s pretty simple but it’s original enough to be interesting. It leaves more questions than answers to some events of the film but still is able to captures the viewer attention.

Visually has a pretty good contrast with the colors especially using black as the background for everything with bright colors on the top some examples of these can be seen on the food preparation scenes and the house. The house where most of the film takes place it’s pretty dark on the background but highlights everything else in the room. The ending is not predictable at all something that I am grateful since you don’t really have much of an idea of what direction to film it’s taken since it becomes a little bit confusing what will happen next.

Still The film is a pretty decent one honestly recommendation of mine to watch. The film will be available officially tomorrow Thursday, May 26 on the streaming service Shudder.