Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: SICK [Toronto International Film Festival 2022]

The key to horror is both reverence but also the aspect of creating something both classical and new while not tilting your hand too much in either direction. "Barbarian" tried to do that less than a week ago with a misdirect that made sense even if the eventual payout didn't yield the dividends it should have. "Sick" [Midnight Madness] suffers in a way from the same malady though its set up was killer. It is just the payoff couldn't live up to the set up. The film comes from the mind of Kevin Williamson, known for his horror elements including "Scream" and "The Faculty". He is a world builder (and was in attendance seeing his film projected on an IMAX screen). The build with an opening that then flips to a reset is classic Williamson and just as effective as it was 20 years ago. The misdirect is only good if you don't know where it is going to end up. This film does do that but the way it uses sound and leading with the score (especially during a scene where there is just pops in the sound design) really works. It brings to mind "The Shining" elevating the material even when the material turns out to be nothing of the sort per se. It however makes the 1st hour fairly visceral. The audience wants it to be something out of control. But because this is a play on the pandemic, some of the jokes and the connotations are almost outdate at this point which is tricky.

The angle is enough in the social consciousness to make sense and the leads in Parker (Gideon Adlon) and Miri (Beth Million) are fresh enough to lose any expectation but also make them the focal point of intent with the audience so their characters can do what they need to do. Adlon, who is the daughter of comedian Pamela, is an interesting choice and brings an everygirl aspect to the part balancing a strength but also a final girl mentality. The violent intruders are vicious, beyond what originally they should or could be, and there are holes that form as it goes on. But some of the sequences, as low budget as they needed to be, scream lean, mean and crisp without losing its edge or its brutality. It is only in the final third that the film loses its traction and falls apart because it can't live up to what it was creating. The problem is almost that it kept it within the bounds of the real world. But of course if it ventured outside that, it would have run the risk too. It is almost that it cannot win because the reveal initiated snickers. And while the director said pre-screening that you can't take the whole thing seriously, the film does take itself seriously until it can't. And that is the issue. But "Sick" had a brilliant set up and first hour build though which is something to be said. B-

By Tim Wassberg