The Lodge

(UK/Canada, directed by Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz)

Austrian directors Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz made quite an impression with  ‘Goodbye Mommy’ a couple of years ago, an eerie psycho-horror about a mother and her two creepy twins in an isolated house on the countryside.  Now they’re back with their English language debut. And what a stunner it is. Stylistically slightly more conventional than ‘Goodbye Mommy’, but scarier and more shocking in many respects. The story evolves around two teenage kids and their soon-to-be (mentally troubed) stepmother who end up snowed in at a holiday home during Christmas. Saying anything more would be spoiling the fun, but rest assured; the film is so much more than its seemingly cliche premise might suggest.