The film is the story of Margaret, a woman who is uncompromising in her life with the highest expectations for herself. Her speech and manner in her dealings with her co-workers are blunt and clipped. She suffers no fools. The opposite side of Margaret is her dealings with her beloved daughter Grace. Grace is the center of her life and the person that she does everything for. She’s equally strict with her daughter about her safety and this seems to be a curious vulnerability to Margaret. It is revealed slowly that she has a fear of a former partner and a tragedy in her past related to a former abusive relationship. When Margaret starts to see someone she recognizes in public places, it ignites panic and rage in Margaret. No one else in her, including her daughter, knows about what happened so they start to fear Margaret herself and doubt her sanity. Margaret is determined to put the past back where it belongs. In her past.

Rebecca Hall gives another magnificent performance as Margaret. While she has a very strong public face, Hall allows her portrayal of Margaret to find the places where she is vulnerable. It is a curious thing about people who have been abused and subject to controlling relationships, while they are very strong, their abusers found their weak points and exploited them. This causes the victims to become more aggressive outwardly, but quite often, these exploited people are some of the most vulnerable and sensitive people in the world. Hall balances her portrayal to show both sides of this type of person. They are vulnerable and very strong, but their abusers know just how to destroy their sense of confidence and undercut their strength because they know their psychological triggers. Most people don’t understand this dichotomy but the script, Andrew Semans, and Hall understand it implicitly.

In her performance, Grace Kaufman echoes the vulnerability and strength that Margaret likely had before tragedy struck. She’s a sweet child, but when she feels smothered by her mother’s fears and misunderstands the reasons why Margaret is acting in this way, she draws a line with her mother immediately. If anything, it shows that Margaret has parented her child very well, as Grace would not accept behavior, even from her mother, that makes her uncomfortable or scares her.

One of the most frightening things about RESURRECTION is the film’s visual realization of a panic episode. Understandably, when put under the pressure of the return of a figure from her past who she never wanted to see again, Margaret panics. She goes into fight or flight mode and begins to hyperventilate, a classic symptom of a panic attack, and the world around her starts to change. Wyatt Garfield (Beatriz At Dinner) is the cinematographer and I was impressed by the visuals that engulfed Margaret as her vision started to morph as she became even more panicked at the sight of this person. The first time I had a panic attack, the world became startlingly and unnaturally crisp around me. For Margaret, the background disappears and the lights become the whole of the background. While it’s not the same kind of hallucination as I saw, it is wonderfully done and gives the viewer a strong visual of what happens to your vision during a panic episode.

Tim Roth’s performance goes to the opposite of what one would expect in such a role and that is definitely to the film’s advantage. I also have to mention Rebecca Hall’s work during the monologue where she finally tells someone what happened to her. It’s performed almost straight to the camera and Hall has no awareness of the camera and takes us through the story in a completely organic and heartbreaking way. It moved me to tears which returned to my eyes as I typed this sentence.

The soundtrack is composed by one of my favorite composers at work in film today, Jim Williams. As usual, Williams’ work is brilliant and very appropriate for the film. The more fantastical aspects of the plot are wisely grounded by the very realistic performances in the film through Andrew Semans’s writing and direction. I would love to say more, but I don’t want to spoil any of the surprises that RESURRECTION has for you.

I will say that RESURRECTION is part of the overall theme I see forming in the programming of this year’s Sundance Festival. The programming features a number of films about women who are experiencing trauma or fear and when they reveal what’s wrong, they are not believed and the people closest to them tend to attempt to gaslight them. The theme that has emerged is the strength of women to believe in their own intuition and stand strong against those, even those who are closest to them, to honor their own perceptions and intelligence.

RESURRECTION is a mysterious tale of a malevolent force going up against the love of a mother for her child. The fantasy elements of the story are grounded by the spectacular performance of Rebecca Hall. The audience shares the shifting ground underneath the feet of the characters since the film pulls the viewer in.

RESURRECTION had its World Premiere on January 22, 2022, at Sundance. To learn more about how the film was made, check out our interview with writer/director Andrew Semans!

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Dolores Quintana

Dolores Quintana is an actor and writer living in Los Angeles. She has written for blogs as diverse as Buddyhead, Pocho.com, and The Theatre @ Boston Court. She works as an actor in independent film and both immersive and traditional theatre with Alone: an Existential Haunting, Screenshot Productions, and Native Voices at The Autry.

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