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When their mother goes missing, estranged brothers Jake and Adam reunite for the first time in a long time. Adam returns to his hometown, bringing along his wife Beth and baby girl Emma, to help his brother figure out where their mother is. Mom is played by the wonderful Jean Smart so I’m hoping she doesn’t stay missing for long. There’s a bereavement group called Gateways that the mother was a part of (I guess there was a tragic fire in town so most of the community is a member) hanging around and offering their assistance but they ain’t exactly trustworthy. They’re cordial enough, they just are practically screaming they are up to no good behind their dead, creepy eyes. Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration appears as mom’s ex and the likeliest suspect… not because of the situation but how standoffish he is towards the brothers when they come to talk to him. Beth finds creepy shit in the house whilst exploring and it definitely looks like there’s some cultish tomfoolery at play. Destroyed baby dolls with blacked-out eyes, torn clothes and “WATCHERS” scribbled on them placed in a circle should raise several alarms. One of Adam’s old friends stop by to warn him about Gateways, advising him that they’re untrustworthy and their young leader Lawrence is a monster. Jake also lets Adam know that mom tried to kill herself and that shit had been spiraling out of control for a while now. Also, Jake married Adam’s ex so there’s a lot of bad vibes in their mother’s house. Adam digs deeper, his brother and ex are probably embroiled in some cult bullshit, Lawrence has one hell of a punchable face (in a good way, it really helps his character work) and a shadowy entity begins to pop up in the background accompanied by musical stings so you don’t miss it… I think the movie knows you’re probably on your phone. The baby is in danger because there’s no way she wouldn’t be and the town has a big ol’ secret concerning a hefty cost for a pristine life. Jean Smart shows up with ten minutes left in the film and all it made me think was how much better this would have been if Jean Smart was in this way fucking more… but I’m biased. It’s okay, everyone is fine but the whole thing doesn’t really do much. It doesn’t help that it mostly feels like something that was set up to be a first chapter of a series and, judging by the year it was released, we won’t be getting a follow up.
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