The Lodge  ★★★½

THE horror renaissance continues…Get Out, The Witch, Hereditary, Us, The Lighthouse, Midsommar… the list goes on.

The directors of these films have been able to find that difficult spot between scaring the wide audience and satisfying the niche one.

Another that should be added is The Lodge, a 2019 release and one of the many good films to suffer due to the extended cinema closure during the Covid-19 response.

Filmed in a remote, snow-bound location in Canada, it is an English language film but directed by Austrians Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz.

They previously made Goodnight Mommy, released in 2014, which featured a similar narrative and themes to The Lodge.

The film starts with a shocking death and then focuses on Richard, played by Richard Armitage, and his two young children Aiden (Jaeden Martell) and Mia (Lia McHugh).

The children are resentful of Richard’s new girlfriend and horrified when they discover they are all going on a holiday to the lodge. Within a day Richard is called away to work  and the children and Grace, wonderfully played by Riley Keogh, are forced to interact.

When strange occurrences begin, including items going missing, the loss of a pet dog and the power being cut off, both Grace and the children accuse each other of playing mind games.

The dynamic is further deepened by the fact that Grace has a history of deep-seated mental issues caused by her family’s involvement in a religious cult.

As you can hopefully tell from that synopsis, there are several layers to the story which is further enhanced by great visuals, inventive camera angles and a jarring soundscape.

The film is beautifully shot by Greek cinematographer Thimios Batakis, who has worked on several Yorgos Lanthimos’ films including the terrific The Killing of a Scared Deer and The Lobster.

While the two child actors are very good, this is Keogh’s film and she impresses in every scene. I love the way the directors hold back her character for the first 20 minutes of the film, making her an even more mysterious, perhaps malevolent, presence.

In recent times Keogh has taken on some great and challenging horror or off-beat roles, including Hold the Dark, Under the Silver Lake and The House that Jack Built, all in 2018, and is always engrossing to watch.

The Lodge does have some flourishes that are recognisably straight out of Hereditary, but hey, at least they know to copy the best bits.