Pet Sematary (2019)
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Pet Sematary Movie Review
Pet Sematary is a 2019 horror film directed by Kevin Kolsch and starring Jason Clarke and John Lithgow. It’s a problematic, but overall respectable attempt at an adaptation.
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“She won’t come back the same“
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I haven’t read the eponymous Stephen King novel yet, and I also have still to see the original 1989 film adaptation. But this adaptation succeeds on its own terms as a pretty solid horror flick which is much more emotional than expected.
Yes, the film actually deals with emotion and what it would be like if your diseased pet and than even a daughter be brought back. This premise works for horror, but I wished for more animal stuff, as for a movie with a pet in the title, the animals are surprisingly sidelined.
But it works in terms of psychology as it explores death and grief quite well. It’s a surprisingly sophisticated and dreadful movie for this genre which is more action-oriented usually for mainstream. But this one is different, but also to its detriment.
I am of course talking about its ridiculously slow pace. There are a lot of sequences here which I really dug such as that chilling ending as well as all of the horror elements really and the kills, but the entire first act of the film is overdrawn, so damn slow and it grinds the movie to a halt before it even properly started.
Jason Clarke continues to be an underrated actor and once again he’s very solid in the main role. I also liked the performance from John Lithgow who is always great and here he is excellent. He’s so good and interesting in fact that I wanted much more from him. The kids are also fine and that dead cat is immensely creepy in a couple of sequences. Again, I wanted even more from her.
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Pet Sematary is too dark in cinematography, but still fitting for the overall desperate atmosphere. The family is underutilized in characterization, but the emotion’s still very much felt. The dialogue is fine, but underused. The movie is ultimately solid, but it could have been so much better regardless.
Pet Sematary is a flawed, but respectable adaptation with a ridiculously slow-paced first act, but many memorable sequences and a dreadful, desperate atmosphere to it. For a movie with the word pet in its title, the animals are surprisingly sidelined, and it’s also not scary per se, but it has a chilling atmosphere and ending plus it also deals with grief and death in a surprisingly effective, emotional manner.
