People are voting emotionally.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

In the beginning there were two sisters. One of them was a runaway drug addict. The other one was pregnant out of wedlock with a man she has no contact with, whilst her husband has been missing for seven years. Ok, so the beginning of this film does NOT prepare you for what you're about to see. It starts of all realistic and the relationship between the sisters is well-established. When the one sister (Courtney Bell) has to sign the Absentia papers, she starts seeing horrible visions of her husband, but this is only just the beginning of the nightmare that unfolds. This is a truly scary and creepy film and I won't spoil the ending. The film is completely unpredictable and things go very wrong after the halfway mark. This is a must-see film. The cast was very good and credible. Notably, I thought Morgan Peter Brown was very good as the disappeared husband.

I'm a fan of low budget and indie movies that make the most of what they have and live up to it's fullest potential. Absentia is one of those movies where great acting, directing, and minimal special affects brings together a psychological and existential horror unlike anything else I've ever seen.While not inspired directly by a story from Lovecraft, the movie is Lovecraftian in it's storytelling and supernatural concepts. This movie is more Lovecraft than many self-proclaimed Lovecraft movies and that is saying something.I don't scare easily but I found myself on the edge of my seat waiting for what would happen next. I am really surprised that there are people who don't like this movie or think it's boring. I guess it's boring if you're used to psycho-slasher flicks that substitute gore for good storytelling.

I went into this movie not sure what to expect, but all in all, I was pleasantly surprised. This solid thriller raised more questions than it answered, but I mean that in the best of ways. (Think Resolution, if you're familiar with that one.)The lead actors offer believable and authentic performances, the script is pretty solid-- not overly verbose or embellished, but it gets the job done. The relationship between the two sisters felt authentic, and the scenes depicting their contrasting religious beliefs gave the viewers a glimpse into their minds, which made the bad things that befall them all the more distressing. The half-jump scares were appropriately timed, and the choice to keep the monster obscured from sight worked very well.Between this film and Oculus, I am thrilled to see where Mike Flanagan takes his career next.

Written and directed by Mike Flanagan, Absentia finds Tricia (Courtney Bell) and Callie (Katie Parker) as two sisters who come to believe that the underpass nearby could be linked to the many disappearances in the area.A slow burn indie horror is not everybody's idea of a good time, but Flanagan has crafted a smart atmospheric chiller, one with a nifty fairy tale fantasy bubbling away under the surface. Narratively it's low-key, though the air of grief and terror is palpable. The setting is a low rent area of Los Angeles, a place where the girls are told to always keep the doors locked, with the ominous underpass haunting the edges of every other frame.Flanagan filters his story through the urban locale while populating it with characters who are haunted by something unseen, or by others who are troubled by personal issues (Tricia's husband disappeared 7 years ago and Callie is fighting a needle habit). The formula scares are kept to a minimum, Flanagan choosing to imbue the story with a sense of dread, toying with the sisters and us the viewers that there just may be something truly awful lurking just out of the eye line.This is not a creature feature, like The Relic or Mimic, this is a different horror film to those. The horrors are born out of what you don't see, or what you barely glimpse, just like the classic horrors of yesteryear, with Flanagan cheekily dangling ambiguity into the bargain. It's unnerving and sad, creepy yet cunning, and a refreshing experience for those tired of big effects driven horror movies. If you like the slow burn less is more approach, with well written human drama in the bargain? Then give this a chance. 8/10