By MORGAN MUSCAT
Starring Steven Martini, Erin Gavin and Gavin O’Fearraigh
Written and directed by Mary Patel-Gallagher
Breaking Glass Pictures
The concept of idyllic holiday retreats has become a popular commodity in horror as of late, with recent theatrical hits like Midsummer, Barbarian and Old tackling familiar material involving yuppy characters getting consumed by some sort of malicious evil against the backdrop of a seemingly peaceful, picturesque setting. The low-budget, independently financed HOLISTAY embraces such a scenario. However, the results are far less satisfying than those of its theatrical counterparts – due mostly to the inexperience of writer-director Mary Patel-Gallagher.
HOLISTAY follows a pair of vacationing couples, Irish tourists Finn and Branna (Gavin O’Fearraigh and Erin Gavin) and New Yorkers Tony and Gia (Steven Martini and Gabriela Kulaif), who find their lives intersecting after they check in to the same San Diego vacation house, the result of double booking by an owner who remains unreachable. As the couples attempt to make the best of their unfortunate situation, they bond ever so slightly before the true nature behind their presence there emerges, prompting all sorts of bizarre supernatural activity (which may or may not be real) to occur.
Despite boasting a compelling concept, HOLISTAY largely bleeds that dry with an exhausted, slow-burn pace; drab performances and a pronounced lack of suspense or tension, restricting much of its runtime to lengthy scenes of dialogue between its underdeveloped characters and a lethargic, slow-paced script that rigidly sticks to formula without a satisfying explanation for its supernatural shenanigans. Much of the film is tedious and uninteresting, thanks to the aforementioned dialogue-driven sequences. This goes against the age-old belief that the audience should be left to deconstruct the plot and its twists and turns themselves without the need for heavy expositional dialogue. Still, HOLISTAY commits that sin repeatedly. Even its final act manages to underwhelm. Lacking a rock-solid resolution, the ending renders the events that transpire before pointless. Furthermore, the cast, comprised largely of lesser-known talent, is uneven and lacks the chemistry to keep things believable. The editing is patchy, and the cinematography is quite dreary, adding to the film’s hefty setbacks.
There are some solid ideas sprinkled about HOLISTAY, but the execution is a botched affair, making it quite a laborious film to sit through. While Patel-Gallagher demonstrates that she has the aptitude to execute a feature-length horror-thriller with minimal characters and locations, she, unfortunately, needs to fine-tune her skills as a scriptwriter and a director to develop something more compelling (or even remotely suspenseful) for her target audience to embrace. On the whole, HOLISTAY looks and feels like an amateur production, so unless you have an appreciation for that kind of horror, you may want to check in elsewhere.
HOLISTAY from Breaking Glass Pictures debuts on digital and VOD on July 25.
