It’s kind of hard to make an original supernatural or paranormal movie these days. Between haunted houses and possessions, most ideas have been beaten into the ground. And while horror newcomer Benjamin Finkel’s Family may not be entirely original, it’s not something that’s seen every day, either.
Family is about a young girl named Johanna (Lucinda Lee Dawson Gray from Fleishman Is In Trouble) who is moved to a rural home in order for her and her mother (The Little Stranger’s Ruth Wilson) to care for her physically ailing father (Ben Chaplin from September 5). While getting used to her new surroundings, Johanna discovers that there seems to be an otherworldly presence existing inside of a gourd-like birdhouse that her mother gave her. At first, she thinks it might be a benevolent spirit there to help her father, but soon enough, she finds that her reality is warping and that dear old dad may not be the only one in danger.
What Benjamin Finkel has done as a writer and director with Family is create a spooky tale that walks the line between campfire ghost story and malevolent possession yarn, yet never tips its hand as to which one it really is. One minute, Johanna is peering into her birdhouse watching a strange entity, and the next, her father is speaking to her in a voice that isn’t his own. And everything is so ambiguous that the audience can’t really tell exactly what’s real and what’s all in Johanna’s head.
What makes Family different from the rest of the ghostly ghoulies movies is the fact that, at some point, Johanna decides that her parents are trying to kill her. This plays into all of the insecurities that the girl feels about the amount of time that caring for her father is taking away from her and her mother. This gives Family an added dimension of family drama. And an added layer of suspicion about what is and isn’t real.
This family dynamic also opens the door to some great performances. Lucinda Lee Dawson Gray plays Johanna with the perfect mix of fear, resentment, angst, and curiosity – you know, all the typical pre-teen stuff. Ruth Wilson portrays the exhausted and exasperated mother wonderfully, always seemingly walking the line between hugging and smacking her daughter. And Ben Chaplin actually plays two roles in one – sickly father and possessed-by-a-demon antagonist. More important than the individual performances, though, is the fact that, collectively, the three actors actually seem like a family. A dysfunctional, unhappy family, but a family, nonetheless.
From a technical perspective, Benjamin Finkel knows how to make a movie. He and cinematographer Elisha Christian (The Night House, Immaculate) paint a spooky and sinister picture in which every shadow and corner is a hiding place for evil. It’s a dark and creepy, atmospheric-looking movie.
Sound-wise, the atmosphere is also creepy, but it can be a little distracting to the point of being annoying. The sound is dynamic to a fault, where the cast will whisper indecipherably and then BAM! there’s a loud jump scare. It does help raise tension in the same way that James Wan does so well in his iconic Insidious/The Conjuring movies, but if you’re watching at home, keep your finger on the volume if you don’t want to blow your speakers (or your ears).
Despite its flaws (which, frankly, feel more like artistic choices than flaws), Family is an enjoyable film. It’s creepy and unsettling, spine-tingling and thought-provoking. And that is a rare combination these days.
GRADE: B-
Rating: PG-13 for violence, bloody images, thematic material, and terror
Runtime: 1 hour 35 minutes
Release Date: September 25, 2026
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