Sure, it's not the best horror-thriller ever, but I was still reasonably entertained, at least till the (slightly deflative) end. The premise of an ambitious cook trying to create her own restaurant in an isolated and dilapidated mansion is pretty original for a horror, the atmosphere is pleasantly creepy, and for the first hour the mounting pressure on the chef (Ariana DeBose) to perform, while more and more strange and inexplicable happenings are undermining her confidence and sanity, kept me curious about what to expect next.
But after we were confronted by the shimmering ghost of the former owner, apparently a woman interested in natural ingredients but considered by the locals to be a witch, the story rapidly lost its focus. The chills and scares diminished, the ghost got hardly any background; and the chef turning rather abruptly raving mad, but still capable of totally impromptu creating her best dinner-menu ever, was really too far of a stretch.
Ariana DeBose nevertheless gave a strong performance as the at first firm and resolute, but gradually mentally overwrought chef, and Arian Moayed did a great job too as her relentless, opportunistic financial back-up. The photography is fine, and there's initially even some criticism discernible at posh and hedonistic restaurant-visitors who revel over exotic flavors, as well as a hint to better appreciation of the use of natural ingredients and nature in general. But the rough way in which the chef seizes, kills and roasts a poor rabbit to make it the height of her prize-dinner seemed to me totally out of character with the latter.
عرض المزيد 
