There’s nothing like spending the weekend relaxing at your parent’s beach house. Getting away from the grind of it all, sipping wine on the beach, and making love with your partner. Unless of course, you find yourself with unexpected company and the entire beach begins to show signs of a mysterious infection.
Shudder exclusive, Beach House (2019) is Jeffery A. Brown’s directorial debut, and stars Liana Laberto as Emily, a post grad student studying astrobiology as she visits her on-again, off-again boyfriend’s family beach house for the weekend, in an attempt to work out their ongoing relationship issues. Well if we’re being honest, they’re really more like his issues, as he was the one who bailed out of college and on her for weeks without so much as a word. The boyfriend in question is Randall, played by Noah le Gros, who is very much going through a quarter-life crisis, trying to figure out his career, relationships and who he really is.
The tension between the couple is obvious from the start, and when they are surprised to find that other guests are using the beach house at the same time, the dynamic goes from uncomfortable to just plain awkward. While I personally feel that Emily should cut loose and enjoy her weekend away, then kick Randall to the curb – that wouldn’t make for what is a compelling look into how we as individuals deal with impending change, which is what the underlying theme of Beach House seems to be. While Emily discusses her work in astrobiology with one of the other guests she mentions that everything evolves and is mutable at the microscopic level, hinting at the change to come. Randall is in dire need of change and hopes to deviate from the path his father has laid out for him. Emily, on the other hand, doesn’t want to let go of the comfort that comes with being in control. She has clear goals in life and wants to see them through. The remaining two characters, the unexpected guests, give us a complex and heartbreaking look at how some people deal with the changes that impending death can bring.
They share some wine, reminisce, and relax. A perfect vacation with new friends. Then suddenly everything changes, whether the characters like it or not. While a viral outbreak is hinted at in small ways throughout the beginning of the film, the halfway mark is where things really get rolling. As Emily, Randall and their new elderly friends start to get high, a trippy, bioluminescent mist comes in off the ocean waves, and strange things start happening to all four of the guests in the Beach House.
The last act of the film starts off with some significant body horror that more squeamish individuals may want to watch through their fingers, continues with moments that can only be described as Cronenbergian, and ends with a final scene that is both poignant and visually stunning. I have to say that Beach House is a great add to the horror watch list this year. At a 1h28m run time, this cosmic, environmental cautionary tale can be a perfect distraction from our current real life outbreak, or a great way to think about the long term impact it will have and the changes we have all had to make in life because of it.
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The Cackling Cauldron 