Don’t Say Its Name Quicktake: Great Performances, Atmospheric, Can’t Quite Stick the Landing
As a horror movie diehard, I’ll be the first to admit that the genre is wildly inconsistent. Taking a flyer on an under-the-radar film is rewarding, at times. But most often, these gambles don’t pay off, and I end up sitting through cliché schlock with awful effects and even worse performances.
Not every horror flick can match the feeling of watching It Follows or The Babadook for the first time. I get that. Sometimes I just want a release to scratch my scary movie itch. Something with a fun premise, solid performances, and a creepy atmosphere. That may not sound like much to ask for, but given horror’s shoddy track record, it’s a big ask.
Director Rueben Martell’s supernatural thriller Don’t Say Its Name checks all the right boxes for a spooky slasher flick. Martell and co-writer Gerald Wexler deliver an exciting whodunnit featuring a strong cast, gnarly kills, and a deadly paranormal menace.
Don’t Say Its Name sees the residents of a small-town Indigenous community hunted down by a vengeful supernatural force. The upticks in murders may have something to do with the greedy mining company moving into town and drilling on tribal land (have these fools never seen a horror movie before?).
The strange murders begin after local activist Kharis Redwater (Sheena Kaine) gets killed in a hit and run. It doesn’t take long before Tribal Police Officer Betty Stonechild (Madison Walsh) senses these killings are out of the ordinary. Officer Stonechild teams up with Park Ranger Stacey Cole (Sera-Lys McArthur), to unravel the mystery before more of their community turn up dead.
Don’t Say Its Name grabbed my attention with its striking cinematography. DP Douglas Munro captures some gorgeous shots of magic hour light cascading over the frigid wilderness. These moments present a striking contrast to the frosty setting and gloomy colour palette on display throughout most of the movie.
Don’t Say Its Name applies the same kind of cool, blue-tinged colour grading you see in Ozark, creating an eerie, hopeless feeling. The movie’s washed-out look and feel intensify its foreboding atmosphere.
Don’t Say Its Name does a better job than most slasher flicks of taking a few beats to flesh out characters before throwing them into the mix. No one will think Aaron Sorkin wrote this script, but Martell and Wexler put just enough thought into the dialogue to make me give a damn about the characters – even if they only exist to get snuffed out five minutes later.
I especially enjoyed Don’t Say Its Name’s two kick-ass leads. These types of characters have gone to men since the dawn of cinema, and it’s about damn time we see women step into these roles and slay them.
Madison Walsh’s Betty has a bit more to do, balancing Betty’s caregiver role as her nephew’s legal guardian. Betty may be warm and considerate, but she’s no pushover, and its funny watching her nurture her nephew Ben (Samuel Marty) while also keeping him in check. You see the difference when she switches to no-nonsense cop-mode. Walsh makes both aspects of Betty’s personality feel authentic.
Sera-Lys McArthur’s Stacey is a tough-as-nails chick who would make an excellent final girl in another horror franchise. She’s a woman battling to keep her violent impulses in check. Stacey doesn’t take shit from anyone, but her struggles with PTSD make it a challenge to contain her rage. So at times, she becomes her own worst enemy. I had a blast watching Betty and Stacey team up to take out a mystical creature, and I’m down to see the duo star in a spinoff as monster hunters.
Don’t Say Its Name strives to be more than a trashy B-movie. Martell tackles themes about trauma, PTSD, cultural appropriation, environmentalism, colonialism, and the tension between science and spirituality. That’s a lot for any movie to bite off. And an even bigger concern for a picture clocking in at an Olive Oyl-slim 82-minutes (without credits).
The film doesn’t take a thorough dive into these complex issues, but I give it points for trying. The script does a solid job tying environmentalism and colonization into its central mystery. However, some of the other issues the film raises come across like lip service.
Don’t Say Its Name is a tight supernatural thriller for most of its runtime, but it gets messy in the final act. It’s a problem most horror films suffer from. A few of the plot beats don’t feel earned and tie up too neatly. And it’s harder to take the monster seriously the more we see it.
Even though Don’t Say Its Name doesn’t stick the landing, it does enough things right to make it worth a watch – an excellent cast, cool premise, and solid production values. This movie won’t make it into my annual horror top ten, but it’s a solid choice if you’re in the mood for something spooky on a Tuesday night.
Let me know your thoughts about Don’t Say Its Name on Twitter and in the comments below. If you enjoyed this review, please help out the site by sharing it on social media. And keep coming back to VSR for new reviews, interviews, and videos.
