Film maker Julie (Tilda Swinton) brings her mother, Rosalind (also Tilda Swinton) to an old hotel in the countryside as it approaches her birthday, hoping to make a film about her. This was Rosalind's family home when she was young and Julie hopes this will help her recall events from her youth. It does though resurrect uncomfortable memories for both of them.

I'm not an unqualified fan of Hogg's work and indeed here it more or less seemed clear story wise what the direction of travel was going to be. So whilst this is more drama about mother / daughter relationships and the sadness of our past, it is also a creepy, atmospheric ghost story full of really fun ideas - why are they seemingly the only guests, what's with the rude receptionist / waitress etc. It's never scary - not that sort of film - but ultimately it all works and fits nicely together thanks to Hogg's direction and 2 excellent performances by Swinton.

After finishing the movie, for a moment, I thought I didn't understand anything and missed the deep meaning, but later, after reading several reviews, I realized I hadn't missed much. I also grasped the very simple plot twist in the film. That's when I felt a great disappointment.

Tilda Swinton gives a truly powerful performance, both in the role of the mother and the daughter, and it's a bit of a shame that her performance is not fully utilized. The film's only twist is that the mother doesn't actually exist, but the effort to reconcile with her internally and conclude the story. However, apart from turning the color palette of the seemingly deep film from black to light to reveal this mystery, did the screenplay need to connect that mystery to something?

The mother-daughter relationship is always special and involves different dynamics. Despite Tilda Swinton's tremendous acting in this aspect, the screenplay falls short. Despite trying to create tension with simple sequences and a gray mist, as a viewer, I didn't feel tense. It was intriguing, yes, but without logically connecting it to something, it didn't make much sense.

The locations and camera angles were beautiful, but it seemed like they went overboard with the mist to create an atmosphere, and there was no need for such an exaggeration.

When the woman couldn't sleep in the hotel and got tense, I had imagined a nice harmony of drama in a setting-horror film. However, there is no satisfying conclusion about finishing the book, which the film focuses on, and no beautiful ending regarding the tension of this setting that I mentioned.

In short, I think Metacritic's score of 80 is related to the acting and atmosphere. But thrillers are much more than these two details. It is a straightforward, well-acted, not as deep as it seems, a regular drama thriller with a flat ending.

This is not a horror or a mystery movie. This is a drama disguised as a drama/horror mystery. And that's why it fails.

Swinton is amazing as always. It's unreal how convincing she is playing both the mother and the daughter. I mean, i was moved by "their" relationship, these were adorable characters. I really felt their feelings for "each other" and that is kinda insane because the viewer forgets that they are the same person. Hence the 5 stars.

However, this is not a good movie. I didn't mind the slow pace, but this movie has the most unnecessary twist of all time. Unnecessary, illogical and, dare i say, conniving. Because there are some scenes that contradict this particular twist, during this movie. Most of the people see it coming from the beginning of the movie, but then, the director convince the viewer that they got it wrong. And in the end, the thing that most of the people suspected, happened. Without any logical or paranormal explanation. Thus, as a viewer i feel cheated and i can't rate it higher.

This would be a much better movie as an art drama. No twists, no surprises. Just a mother and a daughter, their relationship and their feelings. I would enjoy this movie. You have Tilda Swinton in your movie, you don't need twists and turns. Go full drama, realistic as it gets. Psychological drama-mystery horror is another genre, much more complicated than it seems.