The Sideways Light

October 28, 20143 min

There are plenty of ghost stories that are out there, but more often than not they go for the cheap scares. To me what is the best tool to generate a good scare is your own imagination, you picturing what could happen instead of seeing it. How many times at night as you lie alone in the dark, do you hear noises that in your mind are a lot worse than reality?

“The Sideways Light” makes you use your imagination as it gives you the idea of what is going on, only to let you fill in the pieces yourself.  Lily (Lindsay Burdge) has to move back home to care for her mother Ruth (Annalee Jefferies), who is suffering from a debilitating illness. Ruth often refers to herself as “we” something Lilly chalks up to the deterioration to Ruth’s mind. Lilly’s mother can’t be alone, and Lilly’s only escape is a local bar where she befriends a bartender named Aidan (Matthew Newton), who offers Lilly some normalcy in a life lacking it. While caring for her mother, Lilly, discovers the truth about the women in her family, something that changes her life forever.

“The Sideways Light” is a refreshing take on a ghost story. Writer and Director Jennifer Harlow uses flare or the sideways light to add to the mood of the film. Since the film takes place mostly in a hundred and sixty year-old house that often acts as the third main character and at times even steals the show. Lindsay Burdge does a fine job as a women dealing with caring for a mother who must become the caregiver. As good as Burge is, it is Jefferies who really shines as someone who is slowly losing their mind, but aware still of the burden she is putting on her daughter, “The Sideways Light” has its flaws, but with its unique take on a popular type of story, it does just a good enough job to entertain you.

 

Brian Taylor

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