Amulet

Name: Amulet
Genre: Horror
Released: July 24, 2020
Duration: 99 min
Rating: 62
Cast: Aggeliki Papoulia, Alec Secareanu, Amanda Quach, Anah Ruddin, Carla Juri

2020

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 24 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 17 Ratings

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5.2

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5.2	Your Score
5.2	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 17 Ratings

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Amulet

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Movie Details & Credits

Magnet Releasing | Release Date (Streaming): July 24, 2020 | R

Starring: Aggeliki Papoulia, Alec Secareanu, Amanda Quach, Anah Ruddin, Carla Juri, Charlotte Chiew, Elowen Harris, Imelda Staunton, Jacqueline Roberts, Joseph Akubeze, Louis Jay Jordan, Paul O'Kelly, Perry Jaques, Tom Bennett, Yonah Odoom

Summary: Following an accident that leaves him homeless in London, former soldier Tomaz is brought to the rotting home of Magda, a lonely woman in desperate need of help as she looks after her dying mother. Though at first resistant, Magda eventually welcomes him into their lives and allows him to help her care for them. But as he worms his way intoFollowing an accident that leaves him homeless in London, former soldier Tomaz is brought to the rotting home of Magda, a lonely woman in desperate need of help as she looks after her dying mother. Though at first resistant, Magda eventually welcomes him into their lives and allows him to help her care for them. But as he worms his way into their routine and begins to fall for Magda, Tomaz starts to notice strange, unexplainable, and ugly phenomena. Something seems very wrong with the mysterious old woman who never leaves the top floor, and Magda may in fact be enslaved to do her otherworldly bidding.… Expand

Director: Romola Garai

Genre(s): Horror

Rating: R

Runtime: 99 min

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Critic Reviews

Fionnuala Halligan

Jul 23, 2020

Amulet is deeply, deliberately mysterious, and all the more fun for it; the less viewers know going in, the more ferocious the ride. Read full review

Tara Brady

Jan 28, 2022

Amulet has been billed as a feminist revenge horror. It’s a savage one, powered along by the same metaphorical heft that made The Babadook such a sensation. Read full review

The Playlist Jessica Kiang

Jul 23, 2020

Amulet is a horror movie which baits-and-switches cleverly—and angrily—about who is the horror’s innocent victim, and who’s its guilty cause. And as a haunted house film, its ornate mythology pulls the dingy rotting rug out several times from under our initial idea of who is the haunter and who the hauntee. Read full review

Dennis Harvey

Jul 23, 2020

She hasn’t just created a stylish potboiler, but a densely textured piece that makes for a truly arresting viewing experience to a point. A shame then that the film succumbs somewhat to the more pretentious and silly aspects of Garai’s initially cryptic puzzle of a script. Read full review

Empire Sophie Butcher

Jan 24, 2022

A loose, hurried ending can’t quite live up to the effective sense of dread created in the first two acts, but Amulet is still a fascinating, nightmarish debut from Garai. Read full review

Polygon Jesse Hassenger

Aug 18, 2020

Amulet attempts to yoke together serious drama with over-the-top genre satisfaction. Instead, it winds up tying itself in unsatisfying knots. Read full review

Chris Evangelista

Jul 23, 2020

A painfully slow slog, this horror film from Romola Garai has plenty of good ideas and a few neat creature effects, but that’s not enough to salvage things. Read full review

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User Reviews

Tesseract

Jul 27, 2020

The less said about the film going in, the better. In fact I didn’t really want to even write anything, but then I saw the expected uneducated trash and incels bombing the movie on IMDb, and so I figured I should briefly make a note for any actual people who may be unsure if “Amulet” isThe less said about the film going in, the better. In fact I didn’t really want to even write anything, but then I saw the expected uneducated trash and incels bombing the movie on IMDb, and so I figured I should briefly make a note for any actual people who may be unsure if “Amulet” is worth your time. Long story short, it definitely is. Just keep in mind that this is a low budget, directorial debut from another country being done in, what is for them, non-native English. Setting all that aside, this is a wonderfully tense, tightly scripted, well-oiled mind**** that resonates with a very modern message but not done, thankfully, in a way that beats you over the head with it like many films “with a mesage” nowadays. One minor thing, it is such a tightly plotted story that even with its 90-something minute runtime, there was probably 5-10 minutes that could have been cut, but that’s just a small quibble. The other positive review on here does a good, albeit overly wordy, job of hinting at what is actually going on. In this day and age, there is a ridiculous push for people to forgive themselves when they may not truly deserve that forgiveness and/or may have repented but need to seek forgiveness from the victim, not themselves. “Amulet” puts together a delicious, moody, decidedly confident giant middle finger to this entire concept of undeserving, tainted repentance and self-forgiveness. Anyway, enough talk, go grab a friend, turn off the lights, draw the shades, and watch it!… Expand

0 of 4 users found this helpful04

teamfab

Jul 25, 2020

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. 9.2 actually
i marked the review below as “spoiler” because i feel that this film is best with little/NO KNOWLEDGE. that being said, join me here after you view it (and you should TOTALLY watch it) for generalized comment

this film is an arthouse, psychological horror that COULD HAVE BEEN pretentious and outrageous. however, the artists behind AMULET are overwhelmingly successful in delicately crafting a thought provoking, conversation-inducing work of art on screen. and it’s creepy as hell too. AMULET is well cast and all the actors consistently demonstrate a mastery of this clever script. what the audience gets is a handful of fully realized characters who show some pretty interesting and surprising development. it is worth mentioning here that the tightly wound dialog compliments AMULET’s specific style of storytelling by underpinning it’s mysteries with a strong, sharp, minimalistic voice. together these elements comprise the STURDY pillars upon which this fascinating, gory and mysterious tale of horror stands. it quietly burns the story across its dank, moldy universe—a dilapidated, sludge-drenched flat into which the film slowly drowns it’s audience. more often than not it tells its tale by unraveling cliche tropes only to reweave them into a refreshingly original proverb. All at once AMULET stirs believable, well developed characters with the heavy-iron, blood-wine and rich mahogany of catholic overtone; it tosses in a dash of its very own, uniquely curated mythological system; and it finishes with a splash of exceptional detail, indulgent texture and profoundly engaging atmosphere. Moreover all this is brought forward with such confidence that the audience most definitely catches whiffs of ancient decay w/hints of mold while the heat of a rich stew-the first hot meal after days without—works it's way down their throats into empty, aching stomachs. in short the director has a clear vision and she doesn’t just show it to you, she haunts your every sense with it.
it is impossible not to mention the style and tone of this film. no one cannot deny the overwhelming success the director and her team have achieved in setting, tone, costumes, music, sound editing etc. From the haunting vocal arrangements that periodically seduce the audience to accompany a character through a mold infested hole in the wall and into the terrifying unknown—to the near-black lighting of an attic, where deep shadows hide dark secrets among piles of rags in a forgotten corner, this gifted team presents the audience a setting that is not simply appropriate and believable, but engaging and sumptuous. this is unquestionably an ARTHOUSE level production and it is here within this classification that the potential for criticism exists. i assume that for those who do not fall under this movie’s spell—or perhaps curse, style over story will be the reason. an argument could be made that substance here is lost to a very heavy-handed tonality. in fact, as the movie began i grew a bit concerned that the film’s breathtaking, all-encompassing artistry would result in yet another pretentious and forgettable “pretty picture”. to my delight this was a terror that AMULET failed to inspire and to the credit if it’s creators, this fear went unrealized.
in terms of themes, concepts and philosophy this crumbling house of locked doors and barred windows reveals a treasure trove of subtext, references and commentary. unfortunately, i cannot expose any of these without spoiling this film for you. i can however share this: the director is female and this is a female dominated narrative. and it’s glorious. the fact that this is a woman’s voice actually matters a great deal regarding meaning and message here. you will
have to watch it to know why.
by the final credits it is clear that AMULET has lessons to teach and they are soaked in blood. it wants you to smell its rot while you scarf down it’s delicious stew. it wants your stomach to turn while you do these things because ultimately, it enjoys the fact that you can never entirely trust it. behind the fantastically realized squalor and underneath the creepy non-traditional soundtrack lies some deep thinking about a multitude of contemporary socio-political issues. in short you’ll be thinking about this movie after you devour it and your brain won’t be left craving more-there’s so much in here for it to chew.
AMULET is not a traditional jump-scare film nor is it a slasher; it will not give you all the answers but the audience is left with enough puzzle pieces to satisfy. it is creepy over scary, though parts are pretty tense. expertly crafted and well paced, toned and performed, it is an intellectually rich/sound film with a very unique take on some pressing issues of the day. AMULET is not gonna spoon feed it to you...but it might smash your face in it. M.R. 24 july 2020… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

Salamthedude

Nov 23, 2020

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The movie was pretty odd...I would like for a more clear story. If you were watching this for halloween it's ok but this is kinda strange story and doesn't any sense for my opinion. Thats my review! Thanks.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

JLuis_001

Jun 19, 2021

Some creepy moments and stop counting.

That's how bad it actually is. So disappointing.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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