Leave

I wasn't sure what I was in for here, as I sat down in 2023 to watch the 2022 horror movie "Leave". All I knew about it was the fact that it was a horror movie that I hadn't already seen, nor actually ever heard about. And that was, of course, sufficient to make me sit down and give the movie a chance.

Writer Thomas Moldestad was on the right track with the script for "Leave". However, it just felt like it was missing an ingredient or two. I found the movie to be watchable, but it was by no means an outstanding or memorable horror experience. And as the movie came to an end after 106 minutes, I have to admit that I was left with an overwhelming sensation of 'was that really it?'.

The acting performances in the "Leave" were good, and I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble in the movie. I do believe that you actually see a very short cameo appearance in the bar scene at the first act of the movie from none other than Gaahl himself.

Visually then "Leave" was adequate. I mean, I wasn't blown away or overly impressed with the effects. But they were fair enough for a movie such as this.

If you enjoy horror movies, give "Leave" a chance. You might actually enjoy a slow burning horror story as director Alex Herron delivered, despite the fact that it wasn't all that entertaining for my liking.

My rating of "Leave" lands on a very generous four out of ten stars.

This movie is terrible. I'm not sure where to even begin. The lead character is annoying and has no redeeming qualities. I am not impressed with the lead actress's acting ability. The decisions made by the lead character make no sense.

The story ? It is barely believable. The sound was off, too; sometimes people were whisper quiet, other times the voices were amplified.

I'm not sure what is going on with Shudder, but, this movie is one of a long line of Shudder originals recently that have been subpar at best.

I give it 3 stars because other than the lead actress, the rest of the actors do a good job. The scenery was also pretty.

Do yourself a favor and skip this one.

Leave (2022) is a Norwegian movie that was released to the US (and added to Shudder) today and tells the tale of an orphaned young lady who tracks her real family back to Norway. She finds her family home, her mothers things including her journal and hears the story of how she became an orphan. As she gets to know her family better she uncovers why her mom was the way she was and why her life may be at risk.

This movie was directed by Alex Herron in his directorial debut and stars Alicia von Rittberg (Fury), Herman Tømmeraas (Ragnarok), Ellen Dorrit Petersen (Blind), Morten Holst (A Royal Affair) and Christine Donlon (Escape Room).

The storyline is fairly cliche, straightforward and unimaginative. There were elements that had potential, but the horror elements relied on human attacks and interactions and just felt like sick people in life more than "horror." The main character was also frustrating at times where when the family gets weird it's time to be out, but of course she wants to stay. I didn't feel the backstory of the mother was as intense or creepy as intended either.

Overall, this is a disappointing addition to the horror genre that's not really worth your time. I would score this a 3.5/10 and recommend skipping it.

I read the other reviews of this film and it feels like we did not see the same movie. Straight of the bat. This is a suspenseful thriller with horror elements (which people jumped in their seat from), but it is not a hard core horror. It has cool plot and a mystery to be solved. A baby left at a cemetery in the US 20 years ago has an adult managed to track down Norway as the place were she thinks she can find out who and why she was left. Things start getting dicey soon as she makes contact with the people she thinks has answers and from there on out it is one of the most suspenseful films I have seen this year. A elegantly told story with surprises accompanied beautiful cinematography, yes a bit dark at times, but it suites the tone. I also really liked parts of the score. Could be to demanding for younger viewers just looking for gore and killing. There was some truly great acting (I must mention the main character Hunter, the guy that plays her father and her grandfather) I have no idea who these people are that would say the acting is bad or that the English accents are bad. Have you not understood the movie? They have accents because they are Norwegians talking to an American. Also the acting was surprisingly good! I think this film is perfect for people that love a good mystery and can take a scare, but don't want a jump scare fest.

This movie will not add anything to your life. It had some potential - weird families in Norway are a great place to start with a tiny bit of black metal thrown in for good measure.

However, my main pet peeve is the shots are too dark. What is the point of shooting a film when your audience cannot see what you are doing/ The compositions aren't strong enough to be 'arty'.

The storyline is very weak, you can see the ending coming from a mile away. It is not all that interesting. I kept waiting for something to happen but was left disappointed. Again, it had some potential but squandered it by following the main character to nowhere.

There is no black metal in this movie, only black screens.