The Power

The greatest charm of The Power is the frequent uncertainty about which angle we are currently watching the plot from and what level of reality the film is currently operating at. This is aided not only by the learned practices with the drama (it's not a Blum-esque day-night-day-night, but just one night), the second plan, and especially the strange editing between scenes (which feels so weird that at times I couldn't tell if it was the intention to unsettle or just plain bad editing). These factors make it easy to immerse yourself in the creepy world of the darkened hospital. Unfortunately, the viewer is brought back down to earth through a few topical clichés (when a white man shows up on the scene, the plot is practically wrapped up, no matter how much the film tries to pretend we're in for a big reveal) and Rose Williams, who plays a naive nurse like a schoolgirl in a porn movie. (05/09/2021)

An unknown debutant delivers a pleasant little horror surprise that will satisfy most fans after a long time. The story takes place in the 1970s, in old London, in a hospital where the protagonist played by Alicia Vikander is applying for a nursing position. Right on her first night, there is a power outage and with it comes the scares! After the initial 20 minutes and getting to know the characters, it immediately gets to the point and scares continuously for almost an hour! Bravo! Finally a filmmaker who knows that horror should scare and not put the viewer to sleep with dialogues, and it works great. The hospital in the dark is nicely spooky and you definitely won’t envy the main character’s situation. The camera, the excellent soundtrack, the creepy sounds, the claustrophobic atmosphere, and the fear of the unknown all contribute. There are also a few smaller jump-scares and plot surprises. The twist at the end is definitely unexpected and I liked it. The performances are also very good (the seizure the protagonist has is played shockingly well), and there is also an emphasis on the misogyny of that time. Strong and captivating in many aspects. Girls will scream and close their eyes, I have no doubt about that. Thematically similar to the Spanish film Fragile. 8/10. (09/04/2021)

Debutant Corinna Faith has made a ghostly film that, at least in its first half, manages to captivate with a rather unpleasant atmosphere and a convincing Rose Williams in the lead role. Unfortunately, the closer we get to the end, the more it becomes apparent that the director-screenwriter may have had too much ambition and can't quite pull off the themes she introduces. The Power ultimately wants to say too much and thus trips over its own feet in the finale. (02/06/2021)

A nice British period ghost story that has some current social insight, but thankfully doesn't forget that horror is supposed to scare the viewer at least a little bit. A semi-abandoned hospital in the middle of London in the 1970s, at a time of regular all-night power cuts, is the perfect place for such a scare. The Power may be a bit slow to get going, but the central night sequence had me purring in delight. A really nicely made thing that can unsettle and give chills. I was looking forward to that mood lasting to the end; alas, it didn't. The ending was a bit ham-fisted, but on the other hand it offered a relatively meaningful conclusion and did not spoil the overall positive impression. (08/04/2021)

The Power is a movie that manages to deliver a perfect period setting and backdrop according to the horror genre, unfortunately, we have seen its denouement a million times before, and its ghost movie tropes could satisfy perhaps only very unsophisticated horror audiences. Moreover, the movie forces an unnecessarily literal message illuminating what is actually the secondary meaning of the title The Power. As a result, the ending wallows in its own pomposity and did not work for me at all. (17/05/2021)