We tell you who might like “Seance” and why it turned out so ambiguous.

On May 27, the debut film “Seance” by Simon Barrett hits theaters. The filmmaker is known for his long-time partnership with Adam Wingard, with whom they created hits like “The Guest” and “You’re Next!” And while the latter has delved into working on big-budget blockbusters about ancient monsters, Barrett decided to try his hand in the director’s chair for a feature film and shot an ambitious horror about schoolgirls trying to communicate with ghosts.

A Typical Ghost Story or Something More?

After the mysterious death of a high school student at an old boarding school for girls, the vacant spot is taken by a new girl named Camille (Suki Waterhouse). However, with her arrival, strange events at the school only increase. To find out the reasons for what is happening, the students decide to hold a seance and summon the spirit of the girl who died within the school’s walls.

“Seance” may initially remind you of the cult film “The Craft” or seem like a typical ghost story: an old castle, mysterious deaths, spiritualism, images appearing here and there that could be either hallucinations or reality. But Barrett wouldn’t be himself if he hadn’t prepared a few surprises for the audience. There’s Camille’s mysterious past, about which virtually nothing is known, the possible presence of two ghosts in the plot, and a series of twists (predictable in places, but nonetheless).

Why “Everything at Once” Doesn’t Always Work

In his debut work, Simon Barrett seems to have wanted to simultaneously show everything he is capable of, pay homage to the classics, and surprise viewers. This can explain the genre juggling (the ghost film flows into a teen slasher and back, with motifs of revenge and a coming-of-age story visible along the way) and, if not direct quotation, then hints of homage to the works of Mario Bava.

The desire to go beyond the fairly limited genre is commendable, but at the same time it makes “Seance” an uneven film. Perhaps Barrett still lacks a sense of proportion. While Wingard could restrain his creative impulses and stylishly frame them (in “The Guest,” for example, there was both a nod to the classics and a successful genre mix), his partner lacks such skills. Moreover, in the pursuit of surprising, the director forgot one of the main aspects of a good story — the characters. Here, they purely serve functions required to advance the plot but are of no interest. If such an approach was appropriate for traditional giallo, since the emphasis there is still on other things, for a modern horror this decision is very debatable.

Is “Seance” Worth Watching?

Despite the slow pace of the narrative, template characters, and an overabundance of scripted additions, the film “Seance” can still bring pleasure to horror fans with its atmosphere, tension, a not entirely predictable resolution, and Suki Waterhouse’s performance, who perfectly fits the role of a mysterious girl with unclear motives.

Trailer: