The Nursery (2018)
Written By: FZ
Edited By: Grave Reviews Staff
Film Information
Directors: Christopher A. Micklos, Jay Sapiro
Writer: Christopher A. Micklos
Producer: Glenn Chung, Christopher A. Micklos, Jay Sapiro
Date Released: June 5, 2018
Cast:
Madeline Conway as Ranae
Emmaline Friederichs as Calista
Carly Rae James Sauer as Grace
Claudio Parrone Jr. as Jeremy
Marco Lama as Ray
Nadia P. Horner as Rose
David Sapiro as Roman
Deanna Sapiro as Tanya
Rating = 2.5/5 Graves
***May contain spoilers***
Synopsis
The Nursery the story picks up a year after Ranae’s (Madeline Conway) mother died suddenly. She is still struggling with her own guilt and depression over the loss. She is also in need of money, so she takes a babysitting job. The couple, Roman (David Sapiro) and Tanya (Deanna Sapiro) appear to be extremely thorough. They interview her twice to ensure that their three-month-old son, Miller, will be safe in her hands. The couple depart promising to be back in a few hours. Ranae is now a single adult in the house with a baby out in the middle of nowhere.
It does not take long before Ranae’s friends drop in and crash the babysitting gig. Friends Calista, Grace and Jeremy settle in and start watching movies. Ranae is thankful that she is no longer alone but begins to feel that something is not right. Soon, each of them receives snaps on their phone of rather disturbing images. Ranae believes there is something sinister in the house, but her friends do not believe her. None of them can convince her that something just is not right.
Ranae’s brother has channeled his grief into an obsession with the occult. She video calls him and explains what has been happening. Ray is soon able to figure out the horrific tragic truth behind Roman and Tanya’s past. There is definitely a presence in the house. The only question is who will survive the night?
Gore Factor
The ghost used in the movie seemed to be recycled from other horror films with a female dress in white with dark hair covering her face. Since the characters are warned via email on how they look when they get killed, provide the viewers on anticipating how they will die much like Final Destination. But there’s enough gore to go around.
This is the kind of picture best watched in the dark. It contains genuinely creepy moments of tension built out of thin air that sometimes rely entirely on timing, on a line of dialogue, on lighting, on build-up, or on a perfectly well framed shot. It’s a slasher, of all things. It’s not overly gory. Its first mission is to scare and to send shivers down our spines.
Grave Review
The Nursery (2018) is true to its slasher formula, down to using the babysitter cliché complete with party-crazy teens – but it’s cleverly built into a ghost story that’s heavy on atmosphere rather than jump scares and gore. It features a proper narrative and build-up as to create a mystery till the end.
There are a lot of issues with the script itself. The backstory of the presence is not one of them. Once the presence is actually seen on screen it went downhill from there. The evil is not convincing and everything that came before it become flawed. There is only so many times a female in a white dress with dark hair covering her face can work. Had the overall aesthetic have been different, then it alone could have made this film far more terrifying.
The Nursery has the possibility to be a memorable ghost story. There is no reason to connect with the characters and the plot does seem a bit thin. Though there were some interesting techniques into bringing the ghost into the digital world, it was simply not enough to carry the film.
The movie utilize technology throughout the film to help carry the story along. This is a classic ghost tale and showing all of the text messages and video chats were not always necessary.
The Nursery is really a fun ride. The deaths are quirky and gory. The ghost story is sad and disturbing.
Because of the above reasons, Grave Reviews gives The Nursery (2018) two and a half graves out of five graves.
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