Directors Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz’s much-awaited film after the success of “Goodnight Mommy” back in 2014. It’s safe to say, this review of The Lodge will be a spoiler. I am going to attempt to explain the ending as I see it and add a few other theories floating around the internet. For where to watch The Lodge, see the streaming options at the end of the review. This is a horror movie, set at Christmastime that will leave both an unpleasant taste in your mouth and tick all the right boxes.
Is The Lodge disturbing?
Firstly, the synopsis for this unsettling film, “The Lodge” begins with a familiar family dynamic. Knee-deep in the center of a divorce, their dad Richard has already found his next lover. It’s all too soon for the couple’s kids and they do not like this new intruder, Grace, at all. Not to mention she just happens to have her troubling past as the only surviving member of a doomsday cult. Nevertheless, Richard wants everyone to get along and organizes a family trip at Christmas.
The Lodge Cast
The casting for The Lodge is an eyebrow-raising collection of well-known faces. The Lodge stars Alicia Silverstone as Laura trying to come to grips with the end of her marriage. Laura partakes in a glimmer of hope and puts on a nice dress and some lipstick before seeing her husband one last time. The news of his desire to remarry is enough to be the tipping point for her.
The fact Richards’s new piece looks decidedly similar must have been particularly stinging. Riley Keough plays Grace with enough poise so that you always suspect she is up to something but is unsure if she is. Richard Armitage gives us nothing on purpose throughout the film’s 108-minute runtime. Almost a casual prop as a character, he serves only to relate that he is trying his best to move on with his life. Jaeden Martell and Lia Mchugh are the perfect poker-faced beings in the adult world.
The Lodge 2019 Review
As soon as I saw the cinematographer’s name Thimios Bakatakis I knew why I was in love with the purity of the visuals on screen. Bakatakis often works with Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster) and it’s clear he is a master of getting it right. For much of The Lodge, there is not a lot happening. The urge to reach for your mobile device might be present, but between the sound design and aesthetics, The Lodge will draw you in.
There is a constant looming presence of dread for almost the entire storyline and it comes from several directions. There is a sway from person to person as your suspicions rise and fall with every scene. The fact the writer-director’s previous film, Goodnight Mommy has similar veins doesn’t go unnoticed either.
Suspicion is almost immediate towards Grace. She has a sordid background, rampant anxiety controlled by pills, and an overhanging responsibility in having two new almost-stepchildren. The perfect patsy as a snowstorm creeps towards them. It’s easy to simply point a finger at Grace’s trickling decline in rationale. She’s unhinged. However, unless you’re someone well versed in church, it might have been easy to overlook the children’s obvious knowledge of scriptures. Mia is distraught that her mother won’t get into heaven because she committed suicide.
The Lodge Spoilers
In hindsight, the two children are a formidable adversary for Grace. They did their homework. Much of the stunts they pull had to have been plotted and planned before the trip. They had been using the dollhouse to orchestrate their misdeeds. The views throughout the film of the inside of the dollhouse seemed like tiny premonitions to anyone not instantly assuming the kids were up to anything.
What Happens At The End Of The Lodge?
Mia and Aiden blame Grace for their mother’s death. From the moment they are alone with her at the lodge, they begin to gaslight her. They stop her from taking her pills by hiding all her things, they drug her and begin to persuade her the three of them died, and they produce an obituary, photos in memoranda hidden in the snow.
They shut off the power and alter the time on the clocks. Her dog is let out to contend with the elements and with it her last thread of sanity. All of Grace’s doomsday cult teachings become her only salvation and she punishes herself for all of her sins. If they are trapped in purgatory, self-flagellation is the only clear path to heaven from here.
By this time, Aiden and Mia realize they have let it go too far, but are unable to bring Grace back to reality. Their plan has succeeded and she is well and truly bat sh*t crazy. Unfortunately for the kids, there is no reverse button. There is simply a pause for rescue and they wait for their father’s return. For me, when Grace kills Richard she then understands perhaps they are not all dead. But that doesn’t make her any less unbalanced. The only thing left to do is some more repenting. Then I assume Grace does what she knows best and labels them all sinners before killing herself Mia and Aiden.
Overall though, I loved “The Lodge” movie. It’s an easy narrative to poke holes into, but there is always a counter and I think Franz and Severin enveloped the whole film in a grey area to perfection.
The Lodge is rated 2019
4 Unhinged mommies say goodnight differently out of 5
Where Can I Watch the Lodge?
Please see JustWatch.com for your country’s streaming and rental information for The Lodge. If you still can’t find how to watch The Lodge movie, it’s available on Blu-ray. For now, make your own creepy house from Amazon. The Lodge movie was released in 2019 and after a hefty festival run, finally appeared in most countries in February 2020.
