First of all, the setting is so nice. We’re situated at a hotel in Ireland where our protagonist has come to scatter his parent’s ashes at a tree in the forest by the hotel. The hotel has so much charm, from the ivy that grows on the outside and the gorgeous woodwork on the inside. The hallways feel like a maze as Ohm tries to find his room, almost foreshadowing how he will try to maneuver his way out of the honeymoon suite. The color grading in this movie is fantastic, and it does a really good job at conveying certain emotions. 

The movie takes some nods from Irish folklore, and the nods to it are subtle but really save Ohm in certain parts of the movie. That was something I really enjoyed with this movie. The owner, Cob, has the key to the honeymoom suite on his person, and keeps it locked up because of the witch that he trapped there years and years ago. From the beginning it’s made to seem like this witch that is locked up in the honeymoon suite is going to be the main antagonist of the film, but the movie really subverts expectations in that way. Sure, the witch is real and will get you, but the movie makes it very clear that there are way more dangerous things in the world than witches in the woods, and sometimes those things are closer than you think.

One thing I want to say from the jump is that Ohm is a grade A asshole. He treats the staff of this hotel like shit, and even burns the bellhop with a SPOON for asking him questions about his writing. Like I get that he is grief stricken and done with the world, but that is no reason to take it on everyone else, but that’s just me. 

In the woods Ohm meets Jerry, a homeless man that hangs around the hotel and is friends with one of the members of staff at the hotel. Ohm meets him after scattering his parent’s ashes, and he talks about why goats will jump on cars. The goats eat the psychedelic mushrooms, and their reflections intensify the high. They have this conversation about perspective, and Ohm leaves, thinking he’s a pretty weird guy. (spoiler alert: i love him)

There is a character in this film that really made the tone of the film change, and it’s Fiona. Fiona talks to him at the bar and builds a small acquaintanceship with Ohm, and saves him from killing himself. When Ohm gets out of the hospital, he goes back to the hotel to thank Fiona, but as the hotel is closing for the season the staff tells him that she has gone missing. 

Here is where the film gets really fun for me. From the moment that Mal tells Ohm about Fiona going missing, the film honestly starts to feel like a low-key survival video game. He seeks out Jerry in the woods after Mal tells him that he thinks he’s the one that did it since he was the last person she was seen with, and all the clues point to him. There are rumors he killed his wife, Jerry has one of Fiona’s books, and the police are already looking for him because of his wife’s mysterious death. The duo go back to the hotel after everyone has left for the season, and this is where things start to hit the fan. 

This is where the film gets really interesting for me. The next events honestly feel like a survival video game. How they get to the hotel, what happens in the hotel, and how Ohm has to find a way out of the situation he’s gotten himself in. It’s like an escape room on steroids, with Ohm finding out new clues and making new revelations as he plans his escape. 

There are certain issues I have with the film. I feel as though there were plot points that should have had more screen time, like the guilt with his mother and how that affected him. I think we also should have gotten more lore on the witch, and why the owner of the hotel was so invested in the witch herself. I think adding that extra bit would have rounded out some of the side plots nicely. There does seem to be a lot of side plots that they tried to add into the film, and some of them don’t hit as much as I feel were intended. 

The cinematography was wonderful, and I especially loved the color grading of everything. I can’t explain enough about how gorgeous the setting is, and it’s one that is different than other hotel settings in other films. The hotel itself feels like a maze almost, with long winding halls and oddly placed areas that really kind of make you feel disoriented. It also feels like you’re feeling just as lost and confused as Ohm, and I love it when films use the setting as a way to portray (what I feel) the decent in to the mind of the character.