The New Daughter

Sorry this review contains spoilers. TL/DR the central theme is deeply disturbing and potentially triggering for sexual assault survivors and their loved one, even though there is never anything graphic shown. The rest of it is boring stupid dreck, albeit well acted by the child actors. There is mild gore and a few thankfully very fake looking dead animals. They look so fake you don’t even need to read the disclaimer that no animals were harmed in the making of this movie. I actually don’t mind that.~~~~~~~~contains spoilers from this point on~~~~Whoa this was bad. First off don’t let your kids watch it, and know it possibly needs a trigger warning, because despite the rating, there’s an implied rape of the teen daughter who is not that old and still very childlike. It isn’t shown, but when you see the blood run down the tub drain and the blank traumatized look on the girl’s face and then put together the other clues, it’s not hard to figure out what happened to her.It is way more horrifying when you realize the implications of what was really done, because this was not a human attacker and the outcome would be more akin to something from Alien, except it won’t be quite that kind of movie. But just because something won’t get shown, (things don’t get that far) doesn’t mean it’s not still horrid.So it is quite a disgusting movie, really, but the level of depravity inherent in the storyline is glossed over because the girl immediately loses her humanity and so it is written in a way that the audience isn’t ever going get a chance to empathize with her. And keep in mind this is not an adult woman all this is happening to. I think she’s a middle school student.The complete horror of that hits me because I am a mother of a daughter this girl’s age. So all the ugly inhumane implications are not going to escape me, but I can understand if viewers are going to zone out from the tedium and stupidity of the other aspects of the movie and miss all the implications that are turning my stomach. The only happiness I can have for her is that being turned into whatever she was enabled her to be evil enough to ensure her odious and heavily stereotypical mean girl bully adversary had a slip and fall accident.I hate that I invested time in a story where I don’t really know what is going on because the director decided that would be more artistic or something. This is accomplished in so many ways.The most irritating: So they spend a lot of time making sure you know this is a family deeply traumatized by divorce but you never get to find out why. The characters have all these conversations about it that never go anywhere. They all end up hinting at mom’s discontent but don’t spell out what she did or why. Apparently it’s possible they don’t even know. As an embittered audience member I’m going to snark that she probably couldn’t stand their stupidity.There was a lot of weird unrealistic behavior even before the truly weird stuff happened. For example, if my daughter and I were to move into a new house there’s no way any of us would shrug off those weird dirty footprints leading to her bedroom. I’d be tearing that place apart looking for a hidden squatter or some other threat.Then there is the scene with the shotgun. Okay I can understand if the children were shocked to find that. But really, what the heck was wrong with that boy that he couldn’t follow simple instructions to lay the gun on the ground? He’s not a toddler.Is that supposed to show he inherited stupidity from his father? I am not fond of guns either, but I’d never bury a flipping shotgun in the ground. Ever hear of a locking gun cabinet? Or just sell it.I suppose these kids were doomed with a father as incompetent as the one portrayed by Costner. I get that the whole backstory is that he doesn’t know how to be a parent. But what father would notice wounds and back away from getting their kid to a doctor just because the kid snaps at you? At the very least break out the first aid kit. Make sure that isn’t a bite and that your kid doesn’t have rabies.Also, what parent wouldn’t take their teenaged daughter to the doctor when she starts throwing up somewhat frequently and complains of stomach pains? (Especially after seeing a wound on them?) And then when he finally noticed all those weird lumps on her neck, he just let that slide? Really? Between the barfing and the stomach pains and the odd skin eruptions, and the bizarre behavior, I’d have that kid over to her pediatrician or the ER ASAP. But he just thinks tucking her into bed solves all ills. Okay. Sure Jan.I can’t believe Kevin Costner agreed to do this movie.Also, what was that scene with the spiders about? Maybe some context was left on the cutting room floor. They had nothing to do with anything. Did I accidentally wander into another Kevin Costner movie?What was the point of that idiotic professor and his annoying assistant? I think one of the greatest disappointments of this movie was that they were among the few characters who didn’t get eaten. Maybe there’s a sequel where they’re the first to get eaten. We can hope. It would have been better if they just had Costner’s character come across a book the professor wrote. They were more irritating than I anticipated.

The New Daughter is chilling fiction in which a father and his family are confronted by something haunting at home. Ivana Baquero plays Louisa convincingly as the coming-of-age daughter written with a new spin. One of the movies strengths is in the story, which is interesting and varied. But the ending is morbidly lacking. The New Daughter is based on the very short story by John Connolly and is on sale and within the collection of stories named Nocturnes. I did not think that there was enough going on in the short story to make a movie as it has no climax itself. It is glaringly apparent in the movie, which I will not spoil for you (if that is the appropriate term to still use). But does that make the movie thoroughly upsetting? I would say no. The father-daughter, and father-son relationship is touching, and you feel the tearing of those bonds at your heart when Louisa changes. There is a bond made by memorable, and heart rending scenes that make this movie great at times. There is an absolute terror when night comes, and the sounds that are produced in the night will make you reach for the light switch. You feel as alone and terrified as Louisa when she sits in her attic room listening late at night to the trampling of feet on the roof and just outside her window. There is a restrain that holds back what the viewers are allowed to witness, and the mystery climbs and climbs at the strange things happening. We are never directly told what the mound means or why this is happening, instead we are told by different means. You are made to link different stories belonging to folklore, and strange coincidences to get an idea. Sam begins to make analogies with his colony of all male ants, which worship and protect their queen ant for survival. Anthological history pieced with Indian folklore and other stories tell us of an extinct race of mound walkers that worshipped the burial mounds. We never know what to believe, but it is all foreboding. But the stories begin to take a reality as the climax approaches. The horror fleshes out as it becomes clear that Louisa is being stalked by some night creatures (mound walkers?). More than that, Louisa seems to be changing for the worse. How do you stop a mythological deity when its desperate goal of continuing its race involves your precious daughter? The movie tackles difficult and emotional dilemmas. There is an overwhelming feeling of helplessness in this movie as the mythological roles foretold are blossoming unchecked. The father reaches out for help, but how do you convince the real world to believe in silly folklore, when it appears your daughter is merely experiencing the natural changes that comes to teenage girls? The New Daughter does not do enough in the end. The buildup is sufficient and the details are mysterious and fascinating, but the sloppy and morose ending does not live up its own buildup. We are left with an admirable acting job, besides some slip up moments by actor Kevin Costner and some bad photography towards to end which I thought to be too grainy in scenes of near darkness (this is a problem with filming digitally over film).

I will freely admit, I'm not much of a horror fan, I find most of them tedious and generic, and I have to say this one does nothing that's new, I'm sure horror fans will have seen it all before, but unlike most of these films, this one does have an ace up it's sleeve, which is Kevin Costner.Now love him or hate him, there is no denying that he can act, and he gets this film an extra star because he really give it his all, and sells his character 100%, the film is at it's best when he is on screen, the rest of the cast are serviceable, but they come across as what they are, actors in a film. Costner convinces you character is real, and this helps pull you into the film, saving the ending from being a messy and weak one, and turning it into one that just about works. If you don't pay a lot for this you will be happy, but it's nothing special.

The trailer has all the best bits. Apart from that, don't waste your time or money. Mine is in the bin. Apologies to the bin.

Not a well known title, but since I'm into old world cultures and ritual cult/native type storylines I enjoyed it

Not the best film i have seen...it is ok

A single father (Kevin Costner) moves his two children (Ivana Baquero) and (Gattlin Griffith) to rural South Carolina, only to watch his daughter exhibit increasingly strange behavior. Recommend this film anyone who likes Kevin Costner and horror thriller films, well worth a watch.Enjoy.