X
- 2020
- R
- (Yet) Another Distribution Company
- 1 h 39 m
- 2020
- R
- (Yet) Another Distribution Company
- 1 h 39 m
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 i...
Directed By: Romola Garai
Written By: Romola Garai
- 2020
- R
- (Yet) Another Distribution Company
- 1 h 39 m
- 2020
- R
- (Yet) Another Distribution Company
- 1 h 39 m
Amulet
62
5.3
Where to Watch
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 i...
Directed By: Romola Garai
Written By: Romola Garai
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 24 Critic Reviews
62
50% Positive
12 Reviews
12 Reviews
50% Mixed
12 Reviews
12 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 24 Critic Reviews
62
50% Positive
12 Reviews
12 Reviews
50% Mixed
12 Reviews
12 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Amulet is deeply, deliberately mysterious, and all the more fun for it; the less viewers know going in, the more ferocious the ride.
It's all way freakier than it is frightening, but there's a distinctive taste for cruelty here that marks Garai as an audacious new horror auteur.
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 18 User Ratings
5.3
44% Positive
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
22% Mixed
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
33% Negative
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 18 User Ratings
5.3
44% Positive
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
22% Mixed
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
33% Negative
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
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” 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!
Report
Horror movies usually aim to scare, entertain, and teach us. Amulet mostly does all three. Very nicely done.
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.
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.
The resolutions to the mystery, the depictions of what we’ve only suspected, are gruesome, conventional and dull and generic. And that amulet? It’s an afterthought.
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.
[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]
Report
Production Company
Head Gear Films,
Kreo Films FZ,
Metrol Technology,
Trigger Films
Release Date Jul 24, 2020
Duration 1 h 39 m
Rating R
Tagline Have Faith in Fear.
Awards
Fangoria Chainsaw Awards
• 5 Nominations
L'Etrange Festival
• 1 Nomination
Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival
• 1 Nomination
