Studio: Screen Media Films
Director: Andrew Desmond
Writer: Andrew Desmond, Arthur Morin
Producer: Sergey Selyanov, Genny Goudard, Daniel Goroshko, Alexander Skladchikov, Rodolphe Sanze, Laurent Fumeron, Fabrice Smadja, Julien Loeffler, Aija Berzina, Alise Gelze
Stars: Freya Tingley, Simon Abkarian, James Faulkner, Rutger Hauer
Review Score:
Summary:
An eccentric composer’s sudden suicide thrusts his estranged daughter into a musical mystery involving a secret sonata imbued with black magic.
Review:
Violin virtuoso Rose Fisher never knew her estranged father. The music world did though. Rose’s father was none other than celebrated composer Richard Marlowe. Once prophesized to be the savior of British classical music, Marlowe achieved more notoriety when he became an eccentric recluse and disappeared so suddenly that many presumed he died.
Marlowe is definitively dead now. He saw to it by painfully setting himself on fire outside his remote French chateau, which Rose just inherited. Over the objections of her obsessive agent Charles, Rose decides to take a hiatus from her professional responsibilities as a musical prodigy to dig into the complicated legacy her father left behind.
What Rose discovers is a seemingly unfinished sonata locked away in Marlowe’s mansion. Possibly the mad genius’ last masterpiece, the sheet music includes cryptic symbols Rose and Charles eventually link to an obscure secret society.
This occult order believed music to be the only true means of communicating with the devil. Marlowe appears to have bought into their belief that music could open portals to other worlds, as his unusual composition contains haunting qualities experts are unable to explain. To reveal the full mystery of what Marlowe was really up to, Rose and Charles must connect clues cleverly hidden across the estate. Little do they know that if they succeed in decoding Marlowe’s strange sonata, they could unleash literal Hell on Earth.
As I write this review of “The Sonata,” “The Grudge” 2020 has made some noise in genre social circles for being one of only about a dozen horror films to receive an ‘F’ CinemaScore from audiences. Critics and journalists who are more bullish on the flick contend that moviegoers graded “The Grudge” against unreasonable expectations for a reinvention of the wheel. They don’t argue that the film may be formulaic. But they suggest “The Grudge” is perfectly fine for an average fright film, which is where the majority of movies land on a critical scale anyway.
I haven’t seen “The Grudge” 2020 yet, but I agree with the general sentiment expressed by its supporters. Oftentimes, routine horror films are an interminable drag. Other times however, when tempered anticipation accurately aligns with the reality of how “good” most B-movies are, a mid-tier motion picture works well for an evening’s entertainment.
While that notion can have the ring of only faint praise, it summarizes “The Sonata” in a manner I mean to be flattering. Due to its straightforward simplicity, “The Sonata” won’t make big waves, and isn’t likely to be popularly regarded as time goes on. By that same token, it’s still a satisfyingly serviceable little thriller that doesn’t deserve to disappear down a whirlpool of dismissiveness just because it is relatively ordinary either.
“The Sonata” has some hiccups, sure. Freya Tingley’s mousy demeanor lacks the assertiveness to really arrest attention as Rose. But Simon Abkarian features more prominently as her manager Charles anyway, and his maturely measured performance capably replaces some of the protagonist divots cut by Tingley.
Rutger Hauer fans should be cautioned that the late actor appears only sparingly, and never with another person. Mumbles marring his dialogue also indicate Hauer’s health may have been declining while filming his brief scenes as Marlowe, one of his final roles.
As usual for slow burn suspense, “The Sonata” becomes an enemy of impatience. Yet as mostly a mood movie, “The Sonata” fortunately looks so good that your eyes rarely wander away from the screen, even if mental engagement does. Thanks to its spooky shooting location (Cesvaine Palace in Latvia), the film drapes a gorgeously gothic, “Dark Shadows” vibe over every shadowed corner of its unsettling setting. Haunting music coolly complements the quietly demonic atmosphere too.
Strange creative choices, such as filming the first scene from a first-person perspective where the audience plays Rutger Hauer drinking wine, looking in a mirror, and walking outside, keep staging from becoming stale. Plus, I appreciate the unusualness of such techniques, even when I don’t understand why the camera bothers to perch overhead for a shot of piano playing, or cuts to big close-ups of pill bottles and watch winding. Behind-the-scenes efforts at least go beyond by-the-book basics.
Sketchy CGI and an underwhelming final few moments sprain the ending’s ankle as it hops to a somewhat weak conclusion. But the international flavors, occult intrigue, and overall eeriness maintain a solid buildup. As already indicated, although “The Sonata” doesn’t charge authoritatively like an earth-shaking juggernaut, it nevertheless gets the job done as a competently casual creeper.
Review Score: 60
If you want to see impossible amounts of blood explode crimson colors like the world’s worst version of a gender reveal, well, “Abigail” at least has that.