Name: Seance
Genre: Horror
Released: 2021-05-21T00:00:00+00:00
Cast: Suki Waterhouse, Ella-Rae Smith, Madisen Beaty, Inanna Sarkis, Stephanie Sy

The opening shot of Simon Barrett’s Seance lingers on the gothic spires of Fairfield, an elite boarding school where the night’s rituals will soon spiral into something far darker. It’s a setting that oozes potential—think Picnic at Hanging Rock meets The Craft—but Barrett’s film stumbles in its execution.

The premise is straightforward: six friends summon the spirit of a dead student during a séance, only to wake up to one of their own dead by morning. The setup is ripe for tension, but Seance struggles to sustain it. Barrett, known for his work on You’re Next, leans heavily into derivative horror tropes. The muted comic-book aesthetic of the manor, while visually striking, feels more like a nod to Jennifer’s Body than a fully realized atmosphere. The film’s reliance on jump scares and gruesome kills—particularly the brutal death by filing cabinet—undercuts what could have been a slower, more psychological dread.

The performances are a mixed bag. Suki Waterhouse as Camille Meadows carries an air of quiet intensity, but her character is underdeveloped, reduced to little more than a vessel for the plot’s twists. Madisen Beaty and Inanna Sarkis fare slightly better, offering moments of genuine emotion amidst the chaos. However, the ensemble lacks the chemistry needed to make their friendship feel authentic, leaving their collective terror less impactful.

Where Seance does shine is in its kill sequences. Barrett has a knack for visceral, creative violence, and these moments stand out as the film’s high points. Yet even here, the payoff feels hollow without a stronger narrative foundation. The script, written by Barrett, struggles to balance its horror elements with deeper thematic exploration. The dark themes of grief, guilt, and female camaraderie are hinted at but never fully realized, leaving the film feeling like a collection of set pieces rather than a cohesive story.

Ultimately, Seance is a missed opportunity. It has the bones of something compelling—a haunted house tale with a fresh twist—but it’s hamstrung by its reliance on familiar tropes and a lack of originality in its storytelling.