A Creature Was Stirring Explained, 2023 Christmas Horror Movies

“A Creature Was Stirring” is a horror movie released in 2023. The movie is set during Christmas but is not a traditional Christmas story. Instead, the season is as cold as you would expect and everyone loves a horror movie set in the snow. With a cast, I never thought I’d see together and a storyline that drags its feet getting on with things. The darkly aesthetic feature film by Damien LeVeck (The Cleansing Hour) does have a satisfying finish.

For some though, the ending of A Creature Was Stirring was the most perplexing part of all. I saw a great clue in the final scenes that led me down a rabbit hole of theories and am more than positive I have it all worked out.

A Creature Was Stirring Plot

First things first, though, the movie is about a mother, Faith, who is a nurse. She keeps her daughter, Charm, locked in her room and gives her methadone injections to keep her fever under control. There is something medically wrong with Charm. She wears headgear when her temperature begins to rise and there is a story about a dark room with a spiny creature. Faith is the only person keeping her safe.

The story takes place during a blizzard when two strangers, Kory and Liz, seek shelter in their house. Not the best way to make an entrance, the duo breaks a window and is immediately set upon by the armed Faith. They convince her to let them stay while Kory recovers from a spiked baseball bat to the leg. Between odd conversations and protests from everyone in the house, something strange begins to happen. The snow-covered cottage reveals rainbow-coloured lighting as Faith battles to protect Charm and Liz and Kory try to understand what they’ve walked into.

What I liked about this film is that each of the characters is just unusual enough to keep from guessing what is happening within the confines of the film. Faith is complex and has some backstories that allude to several things that don’t catch up with you until the very end. Charm reminded me of the girl from “Run” with her protests and denial of her illness. The visuals provided by filmmakers when it comes to Charm and what is happening to her are well executed.

What didn’t work for me was the idea of the monster itself. Superficially the monster that features in the story could be inspired by the horror cult smash horror film “Splinter.” This is in addition to a flashback about an incident with a porcupine. After that, I was unable to stop thinking about porcupines and hedgehogs and it sucked the tension and edginess out of the scenario.

A Creature Was Stirring delivers sparse practical effects that when used were poorly done. It’s a shame because the final result felt rushed and almost like an incomplete movie. The cast implemented great performances, despite being an unlikely group to see together.

This is where you should probably bail if you haven’t yet seen the film.

A Creature Was Stirring Explained

Now, let’s discuss that ending. A Creature Was Stirring runs along the same lines as the aforementioned “Run,” and makes the entire film easily rewatchable to get even more answers.

Charm is a victim of her mother’s past. That past is filled with Faith using hard drugs to take advantage of what looked to be everyone she met. So much so, that she began using methadone on her daughter to keep her compliant.

Several scenes flicker from the drugs Faith administers being something safe to a syringe and a spoon. This is further expanded on in the final moments. Faith plays out numerous flashbacks that show what was happening when the audience is shown Charm turning into a monster. In her flashbacks there is no monster. It was just Faith fighting to keep her locked up and drugging her to do so.

Moments are shown about Liz and Kory as well. Both were never in the house. Kory is shown in the past to have been drugged and abused by Faith and Liz is assumed dead some other way. But the real kicker is that Charm was also not there the whole time either. While it’s unknown exactly when Charm was able to get out of the house, Faith is shown looking at drawings that all relate to events that did happen. Charms drawing represent what she has seen growing up.

At the end of A Creature Was Stirring, a fire truck is shown with lights flashing out the front of the house. Charm’s body is trapped in the leaves of a fallen branch. If you look closely, however, the branch is sawn off. It looks to me like emergency services cut her down from the roof where her bedroom is. Moments before this Faith is standing in the garden beneath the roof and she notices photos from the suitcase she keeps hidden in the basement. It seems Charm had also discovered this suitcase and decided to make a run for it.

However, she must have got stuck in the tree outside her window and froze to death in the cold. This all ties into the rest of the “dream images” and psychosis of Faith because the central storyline is about her trying to “save” her. Kory and Liz also question Faith frequently about what type of person would let someone freeze in the snow.

Worth Watching?

So while a lot of A Creature Was Stirring feels unpolished, in retrospect, this is a title with a lot of heart and some good intentions mixed in. Mother of Movies recommends this as a worthy one-time watch even if the melting head and porcupine attack made me laugh during a serious moment.

For another great review of A Creature Was Stirring check out Heaven of Horror’s website.

A Creature Was Stirring is rated

2 If Run had a baby with Splinter this is what would happen out of 5

A Creature Was Stirring Movie Trailer

A Creature Was Stirring Streaming

The title distributors are Well Go USA Entertainment. You can watch this as a rental on most platforms in most regions. The movie was released on December 8th, 2023. Written by Shannon Wells. The cast for “A Creature Was Stirring” includes Annalise Basso, Scout Taylor-Compton, Connor Paolo, and Chrissy Metz.

• Annalise Basso as Charm. She was also in the horror movie “Ouija: Origin of Evil”.

• Connor Paolo as Kory. He was in the horror movie “Stake Land”.

• Chrissy Metz as Faith. This was her first horror movie role.

• Scout Taylor-Compton. She starred in Halloween 2007 and 2009.

It is rated R for violence, bloody images, drug content, language, and some sexual references.