If horror movies teach us anything, it’s that going into big, abandoned buildings isa sure-fire way to get haunted– and horror fanslove it. Or at least, we love watching other people make that mistake, and because of that, there’sno shortage of movies about haunted houses,haunted asylums, haunted insert-creepy-location-here.The Abandonedprovides all the jump scares and eerie atmosphere horror fans expect, but with a few new twists on the formula to keep things interesting. The titular abandoned apartment complex thatLouisa KrauseandJason Patricare patrolling as night-shift security guards seems perfectly normal at first, but even with all the lights on and not a spooky cobweb or creaking floorboard in sight, the movie manages to make it surprisingly unsettling. Even when things do turn dark, literally and figuratively,the exact nature of both the building and the lead characters isn’t quite what you expectfrom a movie about a haunted building, and that’s whereThe Abandonedseparates itself from the rest of the pack.
An Apartment Complex Hides a Dark Secret In ‘The Abandoned’
The Abandonedbegins like a pretty standard haunting movie, withLouisa Krauseplayinga troubled young womanwho takes a job as a night-shift security guard for an abandoned apartment complex. “Abandoned” isn’t exactly a comforting term in a horror movie and likely conjures up images ofa dilapidated, dangerous buildingfull of shadows and strange noises, but that actually isn’t the case here. Instead,the apartment complex is lavishly designed and generally intact, only left unfinished due to the owners running out of money before completion;there’s still power,although it has outages occasionally (as any haunted building should) and Krause’s Julia Streak isn’t even alone during her shift. She has a partner in Dennis Cooper (Patric), albeit a jaded and crass partner who doesn’t enjoy being saddled with a new co-worker. Buteven without the decaying frameworkand inherent spookiness of being alone at night,there’s still something very unsettling about Streak’s new place of work. Apartment buildings should be full of tenants and visitors, making noise and putting personal touches on their doors. Even before the actual haunting begins, seeing what should be an active living space completely devoid of life aside from the security guards just feels wrong.
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The director would go on to helm the Netflix hit, ‘Society of the Snow.’
ButThe Abandonedholds its cards close to its chest for the whole movie, andthe haunted aspect is kept ambiguous at first.Streak is taking anti-psychotic medicationand is at risk of having her daughter taken away from her if this job doesn’t work out, implying that she has a history of mental health struggles. One could easily assume that the flashes of sinister images and whispered voices are in her head – untilshe goes into a locked roomfrom whichCooper explicitly tells her to stay away. Not only is the building haunted, but Streak discovers that the building used to be a home for mentally and physically disabled children. Once it settles into the more traditional “haunted asylum” style of movie,The Abandonedhas all the dark, dingy rooms andstartling ghostly appearanceshorror fans know and love, but still has a reserve of twists and turns to keep the audience on its toes until the very end.
‘The Abandoned’ Avoids Old-Fashioned, Problematic Horror Tropes
It’s nice to think that, as a society, we’ve grown more understanding of the nuances of physical and mental disabilities on the whole, butsome movies and TV shows still struggleto handle the topic with care.The Abandonednot only changes up the formula with regard to its setting, but it also attempts to treat its already-marginalized ghosts with genuine sympathy and consideration.Aside from one jump scareinvolving a ghost with more severe physical differences,the bodies of the ghosts aren’t treated by Streak as something to be fearedor disgusted by – they mostly frighten her because she knows they’re ghosts, their behavior is threatening, andshe’s locked in with them in the dark. This is an explicit choice of the filmmakers as well, not just a byproduct of editing or a specific plot line; when Streak finally understands the pain and suffering the children went through when they were alive,she confronts the ghosts head-onand reassures them that they are worthy of love and compassion no matter how they were born.
As a resolution to the haunting experiences Streak and Cooper have had, it’s a touching moment – butThe Abandonedhas one more trick left up its sleeve.The final twist of the movie, which I won’t spoil here, throws the previous events in a completely new light and provides more context for Streak’s choices throughout the rest of the movie. That’s not to say it lessens her compassion for the ghosts, but it does give the whole story a more bittersweet tone that feels as haunting as the spirits Streak and Cooper face.
The Abandoned
