Offseason – Atmospheric
Director: Mickey Keating
Writer: Mickey Keating (Screenplay)
Starring: Jocelin Donahue, Joe Swanberg, Richard Brake, Melora Walters, Jeremy Gardner, April Linscott
Plot: After receiving a mysterious letter, a woman travels to a desolate island town and soon becomes trapped in a nightmare.
Runtime: 1 Hour 23 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Offseason starts as Marie Aldrich (Donahue) heads to Lone Palm to visit her mother Ava’s (Walters) grave. Marie is joined by George Darrow (Swanberg), as they learn the island gets closed for the season, leaving them to fight through a storm to become the only residents on the island.
As Marie starts to navigate the island, she starts to question her past interactions with her mother, as the island isn’t as empty as the Bridge Man (Brake) suggested.
Thoughts on Offseason
Characters & Performances – Marie Aldrich has always lived in the shadow of her mother and now she has passed away, she must return to a mysterious island that she called home to have her grave fixed, after it has been damaged. Marie will find herself questioning whether this was her mother’s wish or not. Marie will find herself getting caught up in the mystery around the island, needing to search for answer from the unfriendly locals. Much like how Marie doesn’t get to have longer interactions with anyone else on the island, we don’t get a chance to learn more about them, or her friend George who travels down with her. This does work for the unsure mindset that Marie is going through. Jocelin Donahue is great in the leading role, bringing all her experience from horror to this movie.
Story – The story here will follow a woman that needs to go to a remote island to fix her mother’s grave. Marie will find herself needing to navigate a small town on an island that has plenty of mystery about it, which will give us a mix of the haunting experiences she is going through, along with the regret from the relationship with her mother. The two sides of the story will come together as the truth is revealed, playing hand in hand in finding the truth. The story will give us an overall feeling that is trying to capture the style of ‘The Fog’.
Themes – Offseason is a horror mystery that will look to grab the atmospheric environment of an abandoned island that sees its resident leave for the season. The fog will add all the tension to the movie, creating a creepy atmosphere to steer through with Marie, where plenty happens in the shadows. When it comes to the horror side of things, we will have plenty different shadows in the background, holding back the biggest moments to come.
Final Thoughts – Offseason is filled with fog creating an atmospheric layer to the environment of horrors.