The Lodge Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.0

The Lodge Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman July 2, 2020

The Lodge, co-written and directed by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, is an uncomfortably atmospheric film that thrives on digging into open wounds, some old, some fresh, none of them ever likely to fully heal. It's a disturbing portrait of unique pains brought together under one roof where discomfort and disunity give way to something more sinister. Whether that's real or imagined or somewhere in between, whether manufactured in the flesh or a product of the mind is for the audience to decipher, but suffice it to say that the film grabs the audience for a relentless journey into psychological breaks, supported by disquieting atmosphere and first-rate cinematography.

Wife and mother of two Laura (Alicia Silverstone) commits suicide following her husband Richard's (Richard Armitage) declaration that he wants to finalize a divorce so he can marry Grace (Riley Keough), a deeply disturbed young woman who was the sole survivor of a suicidal religious cult led by her father (Danny Keough). Laura leaves behind two children, Mia (Lia McHugh) and Aiden (Jaeden Martell), who shun Grace and blame their father for their mother's death. But Richard is determined to make his new life work, forcing Grace on his children and taking the family to a remote lodge for Christmas. He, of course, cannot stay; work beckons and he leaves Grace, Mia, and Aiden alone to bond. What follows in his absence is a series of unexplainable events and psychological breaks as three emotionally fragile and at-odds individuals find themselves forced to confront their dark pasts in a chilly, isolated present.

The film quickly builds to allow an unsettling mindset to grab hold of its audience. The feeling that something is wrong -- maybe with the characters, maybe with the story, maybe within the audience itself -- is palpable practically from the outset. The movie early, and frequently, saps the audience’s will to watch yet the dynamic photography and curiously engaging, though certainly very dark and emotionally challenging, narrative holds enough of an unbreakable pull to keep the viewer watching. It's a skillful build that expresses a feeling of dread more so than a visual presentation thereof. The film shies away from jump scares and chooses to reinforce its story through slow-burn character beats and carefully executed photography that both intimately draw the viewer into the pains the characters experience and the tangibly unsettling world in which they find themselves.

Discomfort abounds, narratively and visually. And rightly so. The story is driven forward by past pains that linger and resurface throughout. For Grace, it’s the specter of her father and the influence of his radical fanaticism on her psyche. For Mia And Aiden, it’s the much more recent death of their mother that has rendered them rightly cold to Grace and unwilling to step forward with their lives at the rapid pace their father demands. What is perhaps most unsettling is that Richard seems to carry no burden. He’s the outlier in the movie, and that he leaves three wounded individuals, alone and in unfamiliar and isolated surroundings, only reinforces his place as the film’s villain. He’s painted as a despicable individual who places self above his children, a man who is either unwilling or unable to see the very real possibilities for pain in his search for pleasure.

The performances are exceptional. Richard Armitage appears infrequently on the screen but his role is vital to the others. His selfish act, forcing an advancement through grief on his children for his own benefit, may be the most vile component in the story. His seemingly absent grief following his wife's death further distances him from the audience. He's as blind as anyone in the film and more unaware than even his children or Grace who suffer at his hand and absenteeism. Jaeden Martell and Lia McHugh are excellent as the children, demonstrating a full command of their pain and playing distant from Grace with a believable coldness. Riley Keough dominates the film as the confused Grace. The audience never knows if what she is experiencing is real or imagined; her trauma is deeply ingrained within and she's so in complete command of her work and understanding of her psyche's every crack and crevice that her break comes genuinely and terrifyingly.

The Lodge Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Lodge was shot on film. The film's subdued visual atmosphere and reliance on both intimate close-ups and static shots of spooky interiors and expansive exteriors are reinforced by a fine grain structure and supple details. Clarity is very strong within the film's cold visual parameters. Intimate shots of hairs and eyes reveal intricate definition. Clothes are likewise naturally complex and satisfyingly dense. Interiors around the lodge show worn woods and various furnishings and accents with rich clarity. Colors are drained by intent. The film takes on an unwelcoming gray look that reinforces both the bleak, snowy exterior as well as chilly emotional currents unfolding inside. There is precious little tonal boldness to be found, but the colors, muted as they may be, always appear to be in-line with the intentional tonal dynamics. Skin tones reflect this deliberate push. Black levels are a struggle for the image; there's a paleness in play with some frequency and an occasional push to purple. There is also some macroblocking in evidence; look at a background at the 26:11 mark and behind Grace in subsequent shots in that same scene. Such are not terribly frequent throughout the film but stand out when in appearance. Banding, likewise, is in evidence and to severity at times (28:59) but not with regularity. There is also some flickering at the 53:58 mark. The image by-and-large looks good at many junctures but its scattered shortcomings are in plain evidence throughout as well.

The Lodge Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Lodge's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack delivers what is mostly a simple, reserved listen with several examples of greatly intense, detailed, and immersive sound output. There is mild reverb around a church early in the film during a funeral, though the effect largely remains along the front side. Such is the only real escape from basic center-focused dialogue for some time. Light score lingers around the front and mild atmospherics support, but it is not until the 42 minute mark when sharp, loud, eerie notes suddenly pour into the stage. Score intensifies and the surrounds begin to carry amplified content, too. Organ music presents with impressively amplified volume and clarity, boasting full-stage immersion partway through in what is the clear sonic highlight in the film. Some blustery cold wind and snow power through the stage with a seamless surround component in chapter five. The track rarely offers much expression, but when it comes alive, it really comes alive. It's a very well engineered experience that compliments the movie extraordinarily well.

The Lodge Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Lodge contains no supplemental content beyond the film's Trailer (1080p, lossless 2.0, 2:33). No DVD copy is included but Universal has bundled in a Movies Anywhere digital copy voucher. This release ships with a non-embossed slipcover.

The Lodge Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Lodge is essentially the story of Grace's slow-burn mental deterioration, but as she experiences her hurt the audience never knows what's real and what's a figment of her imagination. It's disquieting at best and almost emotionally unwatchable in certain points, but the exquisite photography, perfect pace, and gripping demand to understand what's happening, and why, keep the audience locked onto the screen. More Horror films should take their cues from The Lodge and learn from its master manipulation of the audience's inner psyche rather than its outer senses. Universal's Blu-ray is disappointingly featureless beyond a trailer. The video quality is generally strong beyond some occasionally serious underlying issues. The soundtrack is very good. Recommended.