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Sometimes, going home again and seeing family and friends can be such a relief. But that’s not always the case. For some, it’s not such a joyous occasion. And in the haunting thriller Reunion, one woman finds that a reunion with her family isn’t the relaxing escape that she’s been needing.
Reunion goes home again with Ellie (Emma Draper), a pregnant college professor who’s left her cheating fiancé behind and is hoping to finish the book she’s been working on and make a fresh start. Instead of peace and quiet, though, she finds herself sharing her grandparents’ old home with her ailing father (John Bach) and her estranged mother, Ivy (Julia Ormond), who’s packing up the home in hopes of selling it. And as she settles in, surrounded by dark and troubling memories, she begins to worry that she and her baby might be in danger.
When Ellie arrives at the house, she finds it in a state of total disarray. There are boxes everywhere, and Ivy spends her days flitting around, packing things in boxes while caring for her husband and managing the home renovations. But the mess in this house pales in comparison to the mess in this family.
The old house is the perfect setting for this eerie story of dark family secrets. This definitely isn’t a fast-paced film; it takes its time, relying on the atmosphere and the occasional haunting flash to build the tension. There’s definitely plenty of mystery in the air—the reason why Ellie has stayed away for so long, why she keeps seeing a little girl staring at her from the corners of the house. And the family’s story eventually comes out in snippets of memories and bizarre, disturbing visions.
Even as the story picks up, there’s a good chance that you won’t really know what’s happening. Memories can be deceiving—and though you won’t know exactly what’s going on with this family, you’ll know that it’s something incredibly unsettling. But you might not be prepared for just how unsettling it all can be. And when all of the memories come back and all of the secrets are uncovered, you’ll be left feeling disturbed and also totally confused.
With its creepy old house atmosphere and its slow burn, Reunion feels like it’s definitely building to something. But the reality is too wild, too crazy, and just too much—and throwing a whole bunch of craziness at viewers at the end simply doesn’t make for a satisfying conclusion.
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